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Wow I didn't expect to beat Biba that quickly, though I guess you fast forwarded it through me being on the back foot most of the match. I'm glad my final attack is as "In your face" as I imagined it would be. I imagine that "thrust" motion is incredibly fundamental to my attack. So fundamental that it requires precise technique and months of practice to pull off. XP

Also, thanks to Hooves for inadvertently explaining the Amelia pun to me. I totally didn't realize that "I love Emilia" was an actual meme, and wondered why Triple R made me a fan of some random Shadowverse character.

This might be a bit long since I am commenting on quite few chapters (3 to 6 I think).

ch 3:
- I really the Reunion between Honoka and Kotori & Umi was well done with good music choice . As well following scene for flavory and me meeting Kotori and Umi.
- Windy & Chika's dynamic continues to be quite enjoyable
- Hooves' reaction to Haak's slipping madness over Saten is quite appropriate .
- Akuma Kousaka's L-RIG has been left as mystery for quite awhile... I wonder who it is... , must be someone with some willpower to keep haak in check.
- I was surprised to be given the good fortune of being chosen to get to battle Tatsuya with all he's done especially toward Honoka & Kotori, I am happy for the chance to try to take him down a level.

ch 4:
-Umi brings up a legit point about match throwing possibility here, though Honoka counters it well.
- I'd pity Umi's lack of sleep had I not envied her for getting to hear those two singing together .
- The provoking comments towards Cell were quite funny though probably just as dangerous to make as they were funny.

ch 5:
- I don't understand how Cell can have such a non-reaction to something as cute as Moefox's transformation, it defies logic.
- Kotori's passive ability in practice seems way more impressive than I thought it would be in theory.
- Wow, such an oversight in programming by Jinnai to allow such an ally into being an L-RIG of a random person .
- Though I agree with Umi what luck indeed to draw all 3 quick bladers to allow for such a cheese tier victory too out cheese the lord of cheese himself in shadowverse .

ch 6:
- Umi still isn't past the throwing the match possibility somewhat understandably though she should know that doing then would still only give Jinnai 4 coins unless flavory started with 2 coins?
- I wonder when we'll get to see Flavory and Umi play vs someone.
- Very clever and interesting addition with Satomi Kou.
- Windy calling forest more like haunted hollows was amusingly accurate line.
- Windy and Hooves match was quite fun dialogue wise and a truly close match ^^.
- Wow's Haak coin bet is pretty absurd, I wonder if Saten has a lackluster passive to make up for that. And of course that meme won't die about Amelia Emilia.
- The twist for Kogetsu's true form caught me quite surprised .
- Hey I'd Napolean maybe , but the others Satomi lists no way.
- The Jinnai vs Satomi match was quite a war of words, I was taken a back a bit by how bold Jinnai's wish was I could understand why Honoka would feel hesitant about such a wish.
- Satomi's Black Hole seems like quite the over the top ability , quite a twist there .
- This chapter especially had some music choices I felt.

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Chapter 6 Silver Review: Through a Mirror, Darkly
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Quite the clever title you have...
At any rate, given the revelation at the end of the chapter, it may be for the best that Umi didn't actually get to make the sacrifice she wanted to... wonder how she'll react to what Jinnai would have wished for...

The scene in Gero's lab, from the dialogue to the fighting with Apostle, was quite well handled... I'd also like to point out the irony that both individuals Dr. Casey mentioned ended up slipping back into what could be considered villain territory in this chapter, though both for good reason...Yb og syad eht sa gnimaerd, eil yeht dnalrednow a ni.
... okay, so one just dove headfirst into sheer madness...Dam er'uoy. Dam m'i. Ereh dam lla er'ew...
... We're getting somewhat off subject here...

The Shadowverse battles were quite well handled, with particular points towards Jinnai's for reasons I'll get to later, the back and forth in dialogue during the Hooves and Windy match for the silliness of it all... and as much as I hate to admit it, that segway bet was actually quite ingenius...

And of course, there is the scene responsible for my current predicament...Neht nosrep tnereffid a saw I esuaceb, yadretsey ot kcab gniog esu on s'ti.
... I would prefer that person... Anyway, as I was saying, the buildup to the reveal was done very nicely, and may or may not have coincided rather well with the buildup in the music...

The scenes with Akuma and Santa were nice little breathers between that and the final portion...

And boy, what a final portion that was... Between the mind games, the counter playstyle, and the rather nasty coin bet, Satomi is most definitely a major threat... I really can't imagine how things are going to turn around for Jinnai and Honoka after this... Also, I'd like to give special mention to this particular music choice, because like the one before, it fit very well with the buildup... Perhaps even better...
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This was quite the chapter, I have to say... Great music choices throughout, very nice card and actual battles, and at least one unexpected twist... Very nice job, and I'll be looking forward to the next chapter...
T'nsi ti tahw eb dluow gnihtyreve esuaceb, si ti tahw eb dluow gnihton. Esnesnon eb dluow gnihtyreve, nwo ym fo dlrow a dah I fi.... whether or not I'll be the one replying to it depends on the mental state of a certain hatter...

__________________

WARNING: Kogetsu Shirogane cannot be held accountable for any actions taken by someone else. Potential side effects of communicating with this user include headaches, mild confusion, insanity, delirium, and jumping into fires. Do not expose this user to sunlight or water or feed this user after midnight.

“Diabolic Drain.” commanded Tatsuya Dark, as he sliced through the air with a ninety degrees cutting motion of his right arm.

This was how Blood-playing Tatsuya began his sixth turn in his match against Forest-playing Kotohono and Kotori. At this point in the match, there was only one Forest follower on the board, largely because of multiple evolve points use and mutually destructive follower clashes. Kotori's flight and Kotohono's followers had managed to reduce Tatsuya to 9 health, particularly since Kotohono had been successful in destroying both of Tatsuya's Unica healers. As for Kotohono's own health, she now stood at 14 health due to various attacks by Miyuki and Tatsuya's followers.

But Diabolic Drain was about to change that, especially due to how Tatsuya was now just below 10 health and so he was in Vengeance status. This makes some of his cards more powerful or less expensive to play. One such card is Diabolic Drain, with its casting cost drastically reduced by being in Vengeance. Diabolic Drain deals 4 damage to any one follower, enabling Tatsuya to destroy the only follower currently in play for Kotohono. In addition to this, Diabolic Drain gives the user 2 health, bringing Tatsuya back up to 11 health. Now Tatsuya was about to begin his next and more startling play.

“And isn't it against the rules for LRIGs to be the direct target of a spell?” asked Kotori.

“You forget that my precious Onii-sama is a Gary Stu.” replied a smirking Miyuki, “That means he can hack and overcome any silly rule.”

“So I've done so with Tatsuya's Way.” added Tatsuya grimly, “It is effectively an enhanced Limil's Way. Enhanced in that I can play it on Miyuki. And by doing so, I now give her drain. I also grow her to 3/3 and have her attack!”

Drain essentially turns a follower, on in this case a LRIG, into a vampire. A vampire that gives 1 health to his or her leader for every 1 damage done directly to the enemy leader. So with Miyuki having drain, she was now able to do 3 damage to Kotohono while restoring 3 additional health to Tatsuya. So Tatsuya's sixth turn ended with him taking the lead in the match, 14 health to Kotohono's 11!

“Impressive, Tatsuya.” said Kotohono, now sweating a little as she began her sixth turn, “But not impressive enough! Fairy Beast!”

Fairy Beast looks like a majestic lion, just with a large glistening silver necklace around his neck, and fairy wings upon his back. He has 4 attack and 4 defense, and he restores 1 health to his leader for each card she has in her hand. In this case, that is 3 cards, restoring Kotohono back to 14 health. At the same time, Kotori was now at 4 attack and 4 defense, being only one growth short of full growth. As such, Kotori was now wearing her Yume no Tobira outfit, which is highly reminiscent of the attire of ancient Rome and of mythical amazons. However, Kotohono decided not to attack with Kotori.

“Exactly.” replied Kotohono, before addressing Kotori, “If I attacked with you this turn, Kotori, it would drop Tatsuya to exactly 10 health, just barely low enough for him to be back in Vengeance. A decision my friend Pocari_Sweat would never approve of!”

This had been a wise choice by Kotohono, as Tatsuya then drew a card that would have been very helpful if he was in Vengeance. But thanks to Kotohono's choice, this card was now not even useful enough to be worth playing. So instead, Tatsuya used his seventh turn to play the very popular spell card Dance of Death, destroying Kotohono's Fairy Beast while also doing 2 direct damage to Kotohono. In addition to this, Tatsuya grew Miyuki to 4/4, and had her attack Kotohono! So at the end of Tatsuya's seventh turn, he stood at 14 health while Kotohono had been reduced to 8 health.

“There's no hope whatsoever for you now, Kotohono.” said Miyuki proudly.

Kotohono began that seventh turn by playing Fairy Whisperer, a truly elegant fairy in lovely short white robe over a short green dress. As for her overall appearance...

“She looks like me!” said Kotori, gleeful at the sight, “Just me with elf ears.”

“You'll look even more beautiful than her with me growing you to full growth, Kotori!” exclaimed Kotohono cheerfully.

Kotohono then did so, resulting in Kotori herself now looking like a fairy! Kotori now had on the most ravishing rainbow-colored raiment, showcasing her shoulders and midriff beautifully. Even more notably was how Kotori now had two large fairy wings coming out of her back.

Kotohono's Fairy Whisperer is only 1/1, but she gives Kotohono two free fairies. Kotohono played one of the fairies, and then played Ancient Elf! Ancient Elf has short straight silver hair, and wears dark green warrior garb, fitting for a skillful elf archer. Ancient Elf is a 2/3 ward follower, and when she comes into play, all allied followers return to player's hand. For each follower returned this way, Ancient Elf gets one extra attack and defense. Since Ancient Elf did so to Fairy Whisperer and one standard fairy, she was rose to 4/5. Kotohono again chose to not attack with Kotori, ending her turn.

Tatsuya's eighth and ninth turns, and Kotohono's eighth turn, were then spent in mutually destructive follower clashes, as each player used up their one remaining evolve point. In addition to this, Kotohono managed to force Tatsuya to waste Miyuki's drain in having her destroy ward followers, including two Ancient Elves. These attacks also forced Tatsuya to use an invaluable healing spell on Miyuki herself.

Nonetheless, Kotohono's ninth turn would begin with Tatsuya at 14 health and Kotohono at a mere 4 health.

“Before we defeat her, I can't help but wonder what her wish was going to be.” stated Miyuki.

“I've thought about that.” replied Kotohono, “I've talked a lot about it with Hooves. I've considered wishing for a world that is more accepting of LGBT people. As a symphogear, I've also considered wishing for a world free of Noise creatures. Those wishes and others I'm considering. But what I wish for now is your defeat, Miyuki and Tatsuya. And that is a wish that I'm about to have granted!”

“What?!” asked Miyuki in shock.

Kotohono had her fully grown Kotori attack for 5 damage, reducing Tatsuya to 9 health. And then Kotohono played her favorite card.

“Silver Bolt.” stated Kotohono, referring to the 9 cost spell card that deals 9 damage to any one enemy, which can include the enemy leader.

A brightly smiling Kotori then felt a lightning bolt appear in her hand.

“Now I know how Honoka must have felt when she destroyed Gilgamesh's Gates of Babylon with the overwhelming fiery might of Katsuhiko's soul gem.” Kotori stated in joyous remembrance, “For now I will do something similar to you, Tatsuya, with this bolt of lightning!”

With Kotori hurling that bolt at Tatsuya as though it was the mightiest javelin, Kotohono won. And so Kotohono came closer to being able to make a wish. Reminding her to...

Chapter 7Be Careful What You Wish For

While Kotohono and Kotori had succeeded in their mission, the same could not currently be said of Dr. Casey and his three puella magi allies. Still, temporary setbacks had to be put aside in order to deal with immediate threats.

“We're doing this now?” asked an agitated Mami Tomoe, standing in one of the corridors of Dr. Gero's main fortress, “Shouldn't we all head after Homura first?”

“I also want to pay back that Apostle punk!” exclaimed Kyouko, making a tight fist.

“I still haven't determined where Dr. Gero teleported off with Homura.” answered Dr. Casey, “And Cell still provides a perfectly pressing problem for us to deal with it, as Fate just made clear.”

“Right.” added in Fate Testarossa, having sliced and diced her way through walls of rocky fortress in order to meet up with Dr. Casey and Sayaka, “Kogetsu Shirogane is currently fighting Cell in Wonderland. But we don't know how long he can handle Cell. So it's time to use Tuxedo R's last resort!”

“Involving that new-fangled contraption Dr. Casey made.” stated a slightly skeptical Kyouko, as she held her spear behind her neck and across broad shoulders and lifted arms, “No offense, Doc, but is that tin-can trustworthy? It better not harm Sayaka any!”

“The warm wish fusion reactor operates on the same basic principles as the device Tuxedo R successfully used a few years back to help save Christmas.” answered Dr. Casey, “I've also tested out the WWF Reactor on myself and three others, and it did what it's designed to, without any noticeable adverse reactions. I'm confident that Sayaka, Nanoha, Santa Claus, and Tuxedo R will all be fine!”

“I'm a little nervous since Honoka would have suited this plan more than Santa, as great as Santa is...” stated Sayaka, “But Dr. Casey and Tuxedo R have always come through for me in the past, so I'm willing to trust them again.”

“But just how long is this fusion supposed to last for, huh?” asked Kyouko.

“No more than five hours.” answered Dr. Casey, “Hopefully that will be enough time.”

“And there's no more time to talk this through.” stated Fate, “I'm worried about Nanoha just like Kyouko is worried about Sayaka, but we'll all be in deep trouble if Cell isn't defeated.”

“Right.” replied Sayaka, “So take me and Dr. Casey's device to Nanoha, Santa, and Tuxedo R. It's time to make this happen!”

While Sayaka prepared to make a temporary friendly farewell to Kyouko, a much less friendlier exit was being made by Satomi Kou.

“Well, that was even more satisfying than I thought it would be.” a smug Satomi said to a sneering Jinnai, “But I'll save further gloating for later.”

“Don't think you'll get away with this.” Jinnai shouted at Satomi, while also pumping a fist at him, “I will have my revenge on you!”

“Already talking like a villain again, Jinnai?” asked Satomi teasingly, “You sure you want to do that given how your LRIG probably feels right now? Speaking of which, I'll leave her to you. Carnival and I eagerly look forward to our next match against you!”

And with that, Satomi and Carnival headed off for now, leaving Jinnai behind to seethe in anger and frustration. But Jinnai wasn't the only one feeling such emotions right now, as the crestfallen leader of μ's prepared to confront him anew.

“How could you do this to me?” Honoka asked tersely, “I brought μ's all the way to an alien planet just to put on a performance for the Bugrom people that you love. You were one of only sixty people that Kotori and I invited to our wedding. Most importantly, I've trusted you with my own daughter!”

“And I have never betrayed that trust!” exclaimed Jinnai with an arm thrust into the air.

“That's why this hurts so much.” replied Honoka, with tear droplets in the corners of her eyes, “How could you lie to me after all of that?!”

“I didn't lie to you.” answered Jinnai, “I told you that I needed your help to stop Tatsuya, which is the truth! I never said that I intended to save Homura specifically. That's just something you and Miss Sonoda and Miss Minami all assumed.”

“No, I never assumed that, Katsuhiko.” stated a special someone, making her entrance.

“Kotori!” exclaimed Honoka happily, very relieved to see Kotori right now.

“Miss Minami!” shouted Jinnai, relieved as well but also very curious, “Were you successful in defeating Tatsuya?”

“Yes.” confirmed Kotori with a smile, “But the thanks should go to Kotohono. She's a terrific Shadowverse player!”

“Aw thanks, Kotori, that's very nice of you to say.” said Kotohono, blushing over this compliment, “But I'm concerned over Honoka and Jinnai. It sounded like you two were fighting!”

“Did something happen?” asked a very concerned Kotori.

“It's a long story.” answered Jinnai after a deep sigh, while Honoka gazed sadly at the ground.

“...Very well.” replied Jinnai after quick intense consideration of Kotori's request, “I need to go clear my head anyway. I'll be waiting for you and Honoka at a river embankment a short walk from here, once you're done talking.”

Jinnai then eagerly walked off, as he truly did feel a need to get away right now.

“Now, Kotohono, in spite of what your very name implies...” Kotori said cheekily to her.

Speaking of Hooves, she was currently having a nice chat with Freyja, Haak, and Saten. The four were enjoying cups of coffee, quickly made by both Hooves and Saten after commandeering an otherwise empty Micky D's. They were also catching up on each others game experiences to date, while all comfortably sitting at a four-person table.

“I don't know about that.” replied Haak gruffly, after downing the rest of his coffee, “It seems like the only people willing to play against me are emo pretty boys with daddy issues. Where's Kylo Ren when you need him!”

Freyja, Hooves, and Saten all laughed loudly over Haak's joke. But two people not laughing much right now were Kogetsu Shirogane and Perfect Cell.

The skies and terrain of Wonderland now played host to a simply stupendous struggle that threatened to be greater than Wonderland could handle at all. Mid-air joust after mid-air joust left sights like crackling lightning and sounds like tumultuous thunder in its wake. Also resulting from this clash was great ginormous gusts of wind, as Kogetsu and Cell both wildly swung against each other with enough speed to dodge a racing card and enough force to destroy it! Perfect Cell grunted loudly and with optimistic rage, while Kogetsu was more quiet verbally. But both were decidedly loud in their effect upon the landscape, as Kogetsu had succeeded in throwing Cell through several hard castle walls, while Cell had managed to send Kogetsu hurtling through four tremendously tall trees with a massive uppercut to the face!

Thankfully, such destruction tended to result only from their larger swipes against each other, as even more rapid multi-hit combos focused on gradually wearing down the opponent's body than on delivering a knockout blow. Cell held the upper-hand when it came to such quick multi-hit precision strikes, unfortunately for Kogetsu, and so it seemed like it would only be a short matter of time until Cell would emerge victorious.

Thankfully for Kogetsu, he had friends in Wonderland, including a powerful and talented one named Alice Margatroid. Alice had carefully watched the entire Cell vs. Kogetsu fight unfold, from a safe distance away. And Alice now steeled herself to soon take action in order to save her friend Kogetsu. Alice's feelings in this matter are ones that Akuma Kousaka could certainly relate to, as he currently felt much the same way towards his friend and master Akuma Homura.

To that end, Akuma Kousaka had challenged FlavoryFantasy to a match! A match that was part of a carefully conceived master plan. But before the Haven-playing Akuma would explain that to the Rune-playing Flavory, the identity of a certain LRIG would become a subject of much surprise.

“You know me?” asked a startled slender Fuuka, with short brunette hair and emerald green eyes, “I figured the only Earthlings that would know me are Vivio's mom Nanoha, and Nanoha's closest friends and family members.”

“They're far from the only people of Earth that now know of Midchilda.” stated Flavory's LRIG Umi Sonoda with a grin, starting out in her cute light blue Start!Dash outfit, “You can partially thank TSAB Admiral Jinnai for that!”

“Heh. I can imagine that Jinnai couldn't help but regale all of μ's with tales of his TSAB exploits.” stated Akuma Kousaka, “And given what some μ's members are like...”

“T-thank you.” responded Fuuka, feeling a little embarrassed by the attention, “But remember, this isn't about me. This is about helping Homura!”

“Right.” added Akuma Kousaka, “And that's why I chose you as my first opponent, Umi. Through talking with you and Bandit Keith, I know that the three of us all have slightly different wishes, but either of those wishes will help Homura!”

“Yes.” replied Umi, “And sadly, you raised a good point to me earlier about Jinnai's trustworthiness here. His statements about his wish have sounded like the evasive words of a politician.”

“I think he's being very careful to not tell lies to you or Honoka or Kotori, out of respect for all of you.” stated Akuma Kousaka, “But what he doesn't say is crucially important. And so it falls to you, or Bandit Keith, or myself, to help Homura!”

“So let's get through this match as fast as possible!” exclaimed Flavory, “Then whoever wins this match will face Bandit Keith.”

“Let's just hope that Bandit Keith wins his first match.” stated Umi.

Bandit Keith and his red, white, and blue Haven deck was beginning to battle it out with Hanamaru Kunikida and her red Dragon deck.

“Red is an excellent color when combined with blue and white, but by itself, it means you're a no-good dirty commie!” shouted a scowling Bandit Keith pointing one finger at Hanamaru, “And that's why I'm going to win this card cold war... in America!”

Hanamaru was referring to her LRIG Rin Hoshizora! Hanamaru was wearing a very long yellow skirt, held neatly in place by a braided burgundy belt. She also had on a elegant silk white dress shirt with a black open collar. As for Rin, she starts in her Korekara no Someday outfit, which includes a dark purple vest over a sleeveless white dress shirt. It also includes puffy orange shorts with large yellow polka dots, and yellowish cat-ears on her head!

Bandit Keith was in his standard attire, while his LRIG Magical Girl USA Kaname Madoka was in her American flag based outfit!

The first few turns of Bandit Keith's match with Hanamaru went by in a flash, with both players making quick decisive plays geared towards particular overall strategies. Turns four through nine went by almost as fast, with both players quickly burning through their evolve points and favoring follower trade-offs over 'attacking face'. In other words, both players tried to gain board control, resulting in many mutually destructive follower clashes. Overall, Hanamaru had been slightly more successful in getting damage through, but the ninth turn would end with Bandit Keith having a decided board advantage with two strong ward followers on the field. Hanamaru was slightly impressed, as she was amazed that Bandit Keith could handle playing at all! Since...

“How can you manage to play a card game with shades on? ~Zura!” asked Hanamaru.

“A proud American should be able to do anything while wearing shades!” exclaimed Bandit Keith in answer, “Our shades are so deadly hot that they are covered under the Second Amendment, which empowers Americans everywhere, especially in America!”

“That girl sure like talking about whoever this Zura is.” said Bandit Keith to himself.

“Your shades won't protect you from nyan's claws!” shouted Rin at Bandit Keith, while making a cat-like smile and cat-like clawing motions.

“That's right, Rin-chan!” exclaimed Hanamaru gleefully, “And it also won't protect him at all from my next Zuratastic play. I summon Bahamut!”

Bahamut is arguably Shadowverse's greatest follower, and the bane of Haven players everywhere! Bahamut is a humongous shiny black dragon with a fiery destructive aura that completely destroys everything else in play when he comes into play. He also has a highly impressive 13 attach and 13 defense!

“Nyow you're in for it!” Rin said cheerfully to Bandit Keith, with Rin now fully grown and wearing her pink and white Bokutachi wa Hitotsu no Hikari outfit, “You're at the end of your rope.”

“Right on, Madoka!” shouted Bandit Keith, making a punching motion, “And never count out a real American in America!”

It was now Bandit Keith's tenth turn, and he started it out with a bang!

“I now play Call of Duty, The Constitution, and Freedom Bird!” exclaimed Bandit Keith, referring to Beastcall Aria, Hallowed Dogma, and Garuda, “Together they ensure total victory in America!”

Beastcall Aria is an amulet countdown that eventually provides two followers, a strong 4/4 white tiger and a 2/1 storming bird. Hallowed Dogma conveniently reduces amulet countdowns by 2, while also giving a card draw. “Freedom Bird” is in fact a good nickname for Garuda, as he looks like a cross between a griffin and a large humanoid bald eagle! Garuda does 3 direct damage to the enemy leader upon being played, and also helps an amulet countdown by 3. So Hallowed Dogma and Garuda meant that Beastcall Aria would produce two new followers right away.

“This coin bet gives us a Great Wall of America!” exclaimed Bandit Keith with punchy patriotic pride, “Which means all of my followers get ward. This coin bet also means that one enemy follower is banished! So sorry, Bahamut, but you have to go back. You're not welcomed in America!”

“That's an impressive coin bet effect...” said Rin nervously.

“Yeah, it is, but don't worry, I have ward followers that will help us turn the tide at the beginning of my next turn.” replied Hanamaru.

But much to Hanamaru's shock and awe...

“Wait, I'm missing 3 pp points for some reason!” she exclaimed, at the beginning of her eleventh turn.

“It's because I built a wall and made you pay for it!” exclaimed Bandit Keith smugly, “That's the third effect of Make America Great Again. For every follower that the effect gives ward to, you have to pay a 1 pp point toll in America!”

“T-then there's nothing I can do, Zura!” shouted a very saddened Hanamaru, “I'm so sorry, Rin-chan...”

“I would regret defeating a friend of my Team America team-mate Mari Ohara except that as a proud American I am genetically incapable of feeling regret!” exclaimed Bandit Keith proudly in reply, “But to soothe you in your defeat, Madoka will provide a fitting quote made in America!”

“Observe good faith and justice towards all nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all.” stated Madoka with a smile, quoting George Washington.

These warm wonderful words did serve to soothe Hanamaru and Rin some, as Bandit Keith would use his three followers and a fully grown Madoka to win on his next turn! While Bandit Keith and Madoka prepared to celebrate their victory, Honoka Kousaka would tell her wife Kotori about Jinnai's sad defeat and shocking wish reveal. This discussion was held far inside of an otherwise empty clothes store.

“So that's what happened.” Kotori said to Honoka, after hearing the full story from her, “Well, I'm not entirely surprised.”

“You're not?” asked a somewhat surprised Honoka.

“Honoka, you have to remember that Katsuhiko is a TSAB Admiral.” replied Kotori, “I'm sure he's had to make many tough decisions in that position of great responsibility. Decisions over which lives to prioritize in pinch situations against difficult enemies or dangerous terrorists. In a position like that, it's very hard to be an idealist.”

Kotori's words caused Honoka to express some quiet doubts that had been building up inside of her.

“So do you think that Mr. J is right and that I'm wrong?” Honoka asked.

“Do you think that?” Kotori asked in turn.

“I...I don't know.” Honoka answered, her voice shaking, “I know he means well. And I know he has a point. And maybe it is very selfish to focus so much on Homura when billions of people could be helped...”

“We both know very well how truly terrible the puella magi system is.” replied Kotori, “We know that from Sayaka. And we also know that from what it once did to you.”

“Yeah, I know...” stated Honoka, feeling overwhelmed by her thoughts and emotions, as tears rushed to her eyes and her voice began to crack a little, “But this just feels wrong to me, Kotori. It feels so wrong to just give up on Homura like that!”

Kotori then made a soft sweet smile towards Honoka, as Kotori gestured slowly to warmly embrace her wife. Honoka began to cry on Kotori's shoulder.

“I know.” Kotori said softly to Honoka, while petting Honoka's hair, “And I know that your heart is always good and strong, and that's why you should go with your heart. I will always support you and your choices, no matter what. And I completely understand why you feel the way you do when it comes to this choice. In fact...”

Kotori maintained her embrace of Honoka, but pulled back with her upper body in order to look Honoka in the eye.

“This is one of the many reasons why I love you, Honoka.” stated Kotori with such sweetly syrupy charm.

Kotori then opened her lips and very affectionately pressed them against Honoka's. Kotori kissed Honoka, in a gesture of great love, in the hopes of bringing needed comfort to her wife.

“I love you to, Kotori.” Honoka replied, her voice muffled by her tears of relief, as she once more laid her head to rest on Kotori's shoulders.

“I am very thankful for the life that I have.” Kotori stated, “I feel blessed to have had you and Umi as dear friends when I was a child. I loved Otonokizaka Academy, and μ's was incredible. I've met so many colorful, cheerful, charismatic people. So many inspirational people. And yes, Katsuhiko is near the top of that list.”

Kotori then once more pulled back with her upper body in order to look Honoka in the eye.

“Katsuhiko is an amazing person.” continued Kotori, “But you know, Nico Yazawa is pretty impressive herself. And so is Eli Ayase. And so is Tsubasa Kira. Do you see what I'm saying, Honoka?”

Kotori then released Honoka from her embrace, while Honoka wiped away her tears.

“Nobody is more amazing than you are, not even Katsuhiko.” stated Kotori, “So go to him. Talk to him. I know you can get through to him. I know you can convince him to change his wish.”

“Yeah.” stated Honoka confidently, “Yeah, I will do that! Thanks so much, Kotori! But what do you plan to do?”

“Kotohono and I will take care of Satomi.” said Kotori with fiercely fiery eyes.

While Kotori prepared to take care of Satomi, a different threat appeared to be beyond anybody's ability to take care of.

Kogetsu Shirogane's mirror began to brightly glow, much to the concern of the onlooking Darthtabby and m0ef0xZer0. Then two bright yellowish bolts of light came shooting out of the mirror, causing Darthtabby and 0utf0xZer0 to avert their eyes due to its almost blinding brightness. But once the two lights faded away, they revealed two important people. The first is the bruised and unconscious body of Kogetsu Shirogane, in his unbound Sorcerer form. The other is the pretty blond doll-manipulator Alice Margatroid crouched over him, while garbed in her lovely blue dress and elegant white caplet.

“Is that Kogetsu?” asked Darthtabby, while looking at the fallen Sorcerer.

But shortly after m0ef0xZer0 left, a third bright bolt of light came shooting out of Kogetsu's mirror. And this one was greenish in color, revealing...

“Cell.” said Darthtabby.

“That's right!” exclaimed Cell with a condescending sneer, gazing down from fifteen feet up in the air, “And I will not stand to have my battles rudely interrupted. I have defeated this Wonderland wizard, and now I will take his life as my trophy!”

“No!” Alice shouted angrily at Cell, with tear droplets forming in the corners of her eyes, “I will not let you do that to Kogetsu!”

“Do you actually think you can stop me, you foolish little girl?!” asked Cell, “You can throw a thousand of your dolls at me, and it will not matter one iota! You can't stop me, little girl. None of you can even hope to stop me!”

A reddish and whitish image then flashed across the sky. A split-second later Cell felt an unbelievably powerful punch strike him right across the face! It sent Cell hurtling wildly backwards, almost a full mile, eventually crashing into a rocky mountain-side, leaving a ten-feet thick imprint of Cell's body in its wake!

Cell groaned, as he slowly recovered from the attack, and began to rise himself back up.

“What was that?!” Cell asked, in total amazement.

Cell would then see the answer slowly and dramatically fly down towards him. A silhouette of a 6 foot 4 inch tall, well-built man in wind-swept cape and classic strongman tights, could be vaguely made out.

Dr. Casey's WWF Reactor had been a resounding success. The bodies, powers, and souls of Santa Claus, Sayaka Miki, and Nanoha Takamachi had all been fused together into the body of another. And so a common childhood wish was about to become reality. A reality reflected in a large diamond-shaped crest, with a large S symbol within it, and a Canadian flag discernible through that S. Cell's eyes were now focused on that crest, and the man wearing it.

“You're a monster, Cell.” said Super R, “And I'm going to stop you.”

To Be Continued.

---------------------------------------------------------

Spoiler for Fully Grown LRIG Kotori Minami!:

Lots of YouTube music links in this chapter. Be careful to look out for them! But yes, the track that starts for Wonderland fight scene is intended to carry on through the Akuma Kousaka/FlavoryFantasy scene. I hope every reader enjoys Chapter 7, which I think speaks reasonably well for itself!

Big thanks to Akuma Kousaka, Hooves, Dr. Casey, FlavoryFantasy, Haak, Kotohono, and Kogetsu Shirogane for their amazingly creative and wonderfully appreciative reviews. Particular thanks to those who reviewed multiple chapters in one review post. I'm glad that everybody commenting on the fanfic seems to be enjoying it so far. And yes, Haak, you practiced that special attack a lot. Saitama would be proud!

Thanks to Kotohono, Kogetsu Shirogane, and Hooves for their behind-the-scenes help in all the added bells and whistles of Chapter 7.

That duel between Bandit Keith and Hanamaru was comedy gold. It's true. Rin was best girl, you captured her nicely, very nicely. It was, the best duel. Tatsuya Dark? Total. Loser. Lost twice. Lovely sister though. I'd totally date her if she weren't with the enemy. Tremendous. Wait, is she, is she tremendous? Let me just tell you, I respect all imoutos except Kirino. Glad I'm not related to that nasty woman. It's true

That scene with Honoka and Kotori was bigly lovely. Also like how they, like, remembered their history of past events. It's very, very important to remember history. That's why I'm a tremendous fan of history, let me just tell you. It's true. And who knew that merging--you know, that thing some people like to do with companies--mermaids with white devils would give something so strong. I mean, you guys see how strong that was against Cell? Totally. Ridiculous. Believe me

Anyway, that was an early chapter. It's true. Not as tremendous as chapter 6, but from now on, my motto is, like "chapter 6 first, some other chapter second." Let me just tell you

“Shortly after our match ended, she was challenged to another match by Kousei Arima.” answered Hooves.

wut?

Have to agree with Akuma that the Bandit Keith duel was the highlight of the chapter, though the Super R fusion was pretty spectular too. I don't know why but the Retro Superman face made it ten times funnier.

My thoughts on ch 6:
-I really enjoyed the way my match was handled . I especially enjoyed the descriptions of the Kotori's growth 4 & 5 outfits.
-Though I should note that Silver Bolt in fact does not do 9 damage unconditionally, rather is it's highest potential damage of the card as silver bolt draws a card and then deals damage equal to the number of cards in your hand and the maximum number of cards you have in your hand in Shadowverse is 9 . As the card would be a lot more powerful without such a conditionally effect.

-I am not sure which is more strange the name of the fusion device or the 4 who plan to fuse . As 4 person fusions are pretty rare.

-Aftermath of Jinnai & Honoka's defeat was as dramatic as it should be, though a certain part obviously had me interested for other reasons .

-Poor Kogetsu facing Cell solo who is a truly brutal opponent, he did well to last that long solo.

-Fuuka!!!, I thought about her as a possibility for Akito's L-RIG but I was sure it would be someone more I dunno dark, cynical, or something... being the herald of Homura and all . I also thought perhaps he had Homura herself as an L-RIG.
-Flavory vs Akito, I have no idea who cheer for in a match between two of my best friends , interested to see how it unfolds.

-Ah, Bandit Keith, his in America lines just never get old, especially the one about being able to play a card game with shades on .
-Wow, Bandit Keith's coin effect is quite strong giving him 3 separate effects, though I feel sorry for Madoka being made to quote him to use as do I feel sorry for Zuramaru & Rin for facing such a coin.

- Aww, the music link that opens up the chapter has been deleted Why did you have to indirectly create copyright laws, person who first dreamed up the idea of copyright...

- I liked the explanation of Diabolic Drain and Vengeance status. Very easy to follow even as someone who knows close to nothing about Shadowverse.

- Haha, Tatsuya being able to break the rules because of his Gary Stu powers Just like the Santa Magica days. The HP numbers shifting from 9 and 14 to 14 and 11 was nice. Reminds me of the tide shifting back and forth in Yu-Gi-Oh's battles (which, even though 4Kids eviscerated the series in a lot of ways far as the characters go, the battles remained incredibly clever and well thought out even in the dub).

- I wonder what the Pocari namedrop is alluding to. Did he argue with one of you about Vengeance mode strategies at one point?

- Kudos to Kona for not getting too nervous despite falling down to 4 HP at one point, she's a more badass person than I. I think this was the best Shadowverse match in the story up to this point, great sense of pacing and choreography.

- "I didn't lie to you, I just didn't tell the whole truth. You're the ones who assumed too much." Yeah... you're not doing much besides just digging that hole even deeper, Jinnai. Jinnai might be the type who's charismatic and is great at simply having fun with people, but is clumsy at handling situations that require tact and sensitivity. Just apologize and show some remorse, you dingus.

- Comfy SoL scene is comfy. It's cute that Saten is starting to have some fondness for Haak, and the scene ends well with all the girls laughing at a joke he makes. Haak's harem laughs at every joke he makes, of course. He is the most alpha character since the Hagure Yuusha no Aesthetica MC.

- Good opening to the Kogetsu and Cell interlude, sets the mood clearly and vividly from sentence one.

- Hanamaru? I wasn't expecting to see my waifu show up so suddenly. Nice surprise, that. She definitely seems to get high off Shadowverse matches since she's certainly more spunky and high-spirited here than she usually is (though those elements aren't totally absent from her in the anime or anything, so it's well within in-character territory).

- "Red is an excellent color when combined with blue and white, but by itself, it means you're a no-good dirty commie!" I think this might be the best line of dialogue that anyone anywhere has ever spoken.

- As Akito-senpai said, the Hanamaru vs. Bandit Keitch match was hilarious. It's always been pretty clear that Bandit Keith and Magical Girl USA are some of the characters you have the most fun writing. Madoka's dialogue has always been really clever as well.

- My face burned some reading that exchange between Honoka and Kotori. They definitely make a good married couple, those two.

- Oh shit, Kogetsu lost the fight. It was surprising to see him so vulnerable.

- That's one big cliffhanger. Looking forward to seeing what's likely the most powerful character in the trilogy in action.

“Why should I just tell you that?” asked Super R in turn, “If you want to know who and what I am, you'll have to surrender first, Cell!”

“Never!” exclaimed Cell, as he launched himself at Super R in fabulous frenzied flash!

But as fast as Cell's attack was, Super R was just barely able to dodge it! So he did so, much to Cell's wide-eyed open-mouth shock. Super R then brought his two hands tightly together in order to deliver a double ax-handle blow directly to Cell's back! This sent Cell crashing violently downwards, landing hard into rocky terrain below, leaving much billowing dust in his wake.

“Uunnnhhh...” groaned Cell, as he slowly came to, and as he could make out Super R's silhouette through the billowing dust.

“Wait...” said Cell, after wiping his face with his hand, “Does that mean you're not willing to 'execute' anyone? Does that mean you're not even willing to kill an enemy?”

“I'll do whatever it takes in order to stop you, Cell.” answered Super R firmly.

Cell then chuckled in great pleasure over Super R's words.

“Not the most convincing answer.” replied Cell with an evil grin and a shrug of one arm, “Dr. Gero told me that this planet's mightiest warriors actually cared about the billions of powerless ants on this planet. But I doubted Gero because the very idea seemed completely absurd to me! But then, mighty warriors feeling uneasy over killing their enemies is no less absurd. So Gero was telling me the truth, wasn't he? Well then... perhaps I should take our fight to this world's biggest ant-hill...”

“Wait, Cell, what are you talking...” replied an alarmed and confused Super R in reply.

But Cell wasn't interested in any more talk, so he took off with incredible speed at his newly chosen target. While feeling great tension and slight regret, Super R followed after him as fast as he could. But Cell had a significant head-start. With this in mind, Super R placed one finger on an earpiece he was wearing, in order to talk to a friend.

“I'll look it up! Give me a second!” shouted Dr. Casey in reply, over his earpiece.

Dr. Casey was currently standing next to where Kogetsu Shirogane lay. There Dr. Casey had been trying to attend to Kogetsu's injuries along with Alice Margatroid, Darthtabby, moef0xZer0, and Mami Tomoe. Kyouko Sakura stood on guard, while Fate Testarossa was calling a certain famous physician for help.

With Super R's alarmed voice ringing through his earpiece, Dr. Casey briefly took leave of Kogetsu in order to bring up a holographic video screen displaying a topographical map of the entire Earth. Darthtabby had previously managed to plant a microscopic homing device on Cell, during his brief attack on Cell with his Siegfried. Dr. Casey now used that homing device to very precisely track Cell's movements. Those movements would deeply distress the good Doctor.

“This is bad, very bad...” stated Dr. Casey to himself.

“Then you better tell Super R where Cell is going!” shouted Kyouko.

“Yes.” replied Dr. Casey, “But not just him. There are people in Nexus' hollow game realm that needs to know this as well.”

Two minutes later, on a river embankment in a replica Mitakihara Town...

Honoka Kousaka had almost arrived at the place Jinnai wanted to meet her at. Honoka was startled to overhear him speaking frantically into a scouter device of some sort.

“This is TSAB Admiral Katsuhiko Jinnai, Security Clearance XJ4H13679!” Jinnai shouted over the earpiece part of his scouter device, “My message must be passed on to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe immediately! You have an incoming threat the likes of which you have never seen. It must be addressed rapidly, or all of Japan is in grave peril. This is a national emergency, and Tokyo may need to be evacuated!”

“Tokyo may need to be evacuated?” Honoka repeated to herself, in great fright, “What is going on?!”

Jinnai then rapidly turned around to face Honoka, at the sound of her voice.

“Honoka, thank God.” Jinnai stated, as he turned off his scouter device and raced up to where she was now standing.

“We need to move as quickly as possible!” an agitated Jinnai shouted to her, now standing right next to her, “I need to get back out there as soon as possible. So we need to go and win two...”

“Yes.” confirmed Jinnai, “Cell is heading directly for Tokyo. In fact, you deserve to know his precise destination.”

“Where's that?” asked Honoka.

“Otonokizaka Academy.” answered Jinnai.

Chapter 8The Sum of All Fears

Satomi Kou was casually leaning over a bridge's railing, looking out over a rushing river reflecting radiance from the overhead sun. He was watching beauteous butterflies bounce around in the air. Satomi's expression was oddly soft and serene as Tatsuya Dark slowly walked up towards him.

“Yes.” answered Tatsuya, “But their beauty obscures disgusting hidden weakness. Butterflies are weak and delicate, and have a lifespan of a mere year.”

“Similar to how you feel about modern Japan, isn't it?” asked Satomi with a grin, as he shifted one eye towards Tatsuya.

“That is the main reason why I've agreed to ally with you.” answered Tatsuya, “To that end, I just received an important report from Dr. Gero. Things are progressing even faster than we had planned.”

“Sigh.” replied Satomi playfully, as he turned about, to now lean his back against the bridge's railing, “What is the common saying? 'No rest for the wicked', I believe it is.”

“I view my actions and plans as the very opposite of wickedness.” stated Tatsuya firmly.

“That is where you and I are different.” replied Satomi, “But no matter! We both share the same goals, even if for different reasons. So let's get this party started!”

“Open.” stated Tatsuya with mild excitement, preparing for his match with Satomi.

“Open.” replied an even more excited Satomi.

While Tatsuya's goals and motivations now read like an open book to Satomi, they were increasingly bizarre and obscure to Honoka Kousaka.

“Why?” Honoka asked, in confused dread, “Why is Cell attacking Otonokizaka Academy? Isn't Cell working with Tatsuya? I don't agree with Tatsuya's ideals, but I thought he sincerely wanted a strong Japan, at least!”

“So did I.” replied Jinnai, “Which is why I thought Tatsuya would keep Cell on a tight leash. Cell being unleashed like this is a dark horror I considered very unlikely. But for whatever reason, it has happened! So I need to get back out there, Honoka. I need to get out there as soon as possible in order to save our country from Cell!”

“Then we should intentionally lose to Kotohono and Kotori.” stated Honoka.

“Lose?!” exclaimed Jinnai, with eyes bugging out and arms flapping in shock.

“An intentional loss will be much faster than two hard-fought wins!” exclaimed Honoka.

“If people put their minds to it, they can do anything!” shouted Jinnai, quoting Honoka, “A dream I still believe! Do you still believe in that dream?”

“Yes I do.” answered Honoka, “But I was talking about people, not just you! And not just me. You put everything on yourself. You try to plan out everything yourself, without considering other people's ideas. It worries me. It reminds me of Eli just before she joined μ's. It reminds me of me before I had a nasty collapse. I was so focused on myself and my goals, and I was shutting out my friends Kotori and Umi. And you shouldn't shut out your friends either, Mr. J! You should learn to trust your friends more.”

“There is precisely one person that I truly consider a friend.” replied Jinnai, gazing away from Honoka, as he felt increasingly exhausted, “The same person I asked to be my partner in this most important mission.”

“...Diva and Groucho and Nanoha and Fate would be sad to hear you say that.” stated Honoka, blushing slightly over Jinnai's words, “But if you really feel that way, then you can start by trusting me. Trust my ideas here. Change your wish to something that Kotohono and Kotori could agree to. Make it a wish that does everything you want it to without having to risk Homura's life! I know you're smart enough to come up with a wish like that. Kotohono hasn't settled on a wish yet, so if you present a good wish idea to her, I'm sure she'll make it her own! Then lose to Kotohono, so we can enter back into the real world, and stop Cell.”

Jinnai felt slightly annoyed over Honoka's ideas, but after thinking on them for a couple moments, he had to admit to himself that they might just be the best possible course of action right now.

“Not bad, Honoka.” stated Jinnai, shrugging one shoulder, “...Very well. I'll try things your way. I'm getting a clearer idea of why μ's overcame so much to become a great success. So now let's get to saving the school that μ's attended!”

“Right!” exclaimed Honoka, with a smile and a look of relief.

But would that relief last for long given Cell's arrival in the skies directly above Otonokizaka Academy?

Thankfully, today was Sunday, and it was raining heavily in Tokyo, so there weren't many people at Otonokizaka Academy. Still, there were a few girls there, as part of various school clubs, hoping to make their school shine. Alas, Cell was hoping to make their school shine in a very different way.

“There it is!” Cell said to himself, “Dr. Gero told me that many of Earth's mightiest warriors and magic-wielding girls strangely care about this particular place of learning. Even people who never attended it, like Sayaka Miki and Tuxedo R! Let's see how much they like it after it's been obliterated by me. Ha ha ha ha ha!”

Cell then pulled back on one arm, before thrusting it diagonally downwards with one finger pointing outwards. A loud humming sound of energy charge-up could be heard coursing through Cell's body, with the energy all gathering at the pointing finger. And from that pointing finger, Cell released an immense blast of yellowish energy!

Super R caught up to Cell just in time to see Cell discharging this blast. So Super R was not confident he could safely knock Cell aside with a direct mid-air charge, given that Cell was already unleashing a blast of energy. So in a split-second, Super R made the self-sacrificing decision to throw himself directly in front of Cell's blast!

“Aaaarrrghhh!!” cried Super R, taking the full brunt of the blast onto his chest, ensuring that nobody else would be harmed by it.

However, this blast was powerful enough to send Super R crashing downwards, smashing through a statue on the grounds of Otonkizaka Academy. This statue is of a shouting man posing dramatically with two fists, but now that statue had been cracked in half, while Super R had also left a small smoldering crater in the wake of his crash. This certainly caught the attention of the hopeful school idols of Otonokizaka Academy.

“Mika, did you see that?!” asked her auburn-haired friend Yuki.

“It would be hard to miss that!” answered the blue-haired Mika in turn, “But I certainly don't know what it all means.”

“And what about that flying greenish guy up in the air?!” asked Yuki, pointing upwards at Cell.

Super R groaned while struggling to shrug off the effects of Cell's blast.

“Amazing!” shouted an evilly grinning Cell to himself, “This Earth warrior actually put his own body into harm's way just to protect this building and the ants who attend it. All I have to do is attack some of these powerless bystanders, and my enemies will essentially kill themselves for me!”

Cell was then surprised to see two large dark shiny objects flying towards him, shooting missiles at him. To the credit of the pilots, these missiles successfully hit their target, leaving Cell engulfed in smoke and flame!

“That's the JASDF!” shouted Mika, at the sight of them engaging Cell.

Unfortunately for the JASDF, their missiles didn't even leave a scratch on Cell.

“It looks like I have a couple flies to swat away before I crush the ants below!” stated Cell in eager sadistic smile.

While flying faster than a speeding bullet, Super R delivered an uppercut more powerful than a locomotive directly to Cell's face, sending Cell higher into the air than even the tallest building on Earth! Super R then took a second to catch his breath and watch the grunting Cell be sent far far away.

The two JASDF pilots asked each other if they should consider Super R a hostile or not. Thankfully for Super R, they agreed to take a wait and see approach until ordered otherwise. Super R then received an incoming message on his earpiece, from Dr. Casey.

“Were you able to reach Cell in time?” Dr. Casey asked Super R.

“Yes, but just barely.” answered Super R, feeling very anxious and guilty, “I never should have said what I did to Cell. He saw right through what I said, and now Japan is in grave danger because of it!”

“There's no point crying over spilled milk.” replied Dr. Casey, “I know that from experience. All you can do now is do your best to limit the damage Cell causes.”

“What will become of the people of Japan?” asked Super R.

“...You can save them.” answered Dr. Casey, after a tense pause, deciding that Super R could use some very encouraging words right now, “You can save all of them. As for me? I've located where Dr. Gero took Homura. I'm going to save her with Darthtabby's help. So all you have to do is keep Cell busy until Homura can help. Ganbatte!”

“Good luck to you as well.” replied Super R, before flying after Cell.

“Yes.” confirmed Dr. Casey, “Darth is of very limited help against Cell, but I believe he might be very helpful in trying to rescue Homura from where Dr. Gero is holding her.”

“I'm happy to help anyway I can, Doc!” exclaimed Darthtabby.

“What should the rest of us do?” asked m0ef0xZer0, “We want to help to!”

“Someone special will be arriving shortly to fully heal Kogetsu.” began Dr. Casey in answer, “Fate has agreed to look after Kogetsu until this physician arrives. So that leaves you, Kyouko, and Mami. My suggestion is for the three of you to head into Tokyo. Maybe you can't help much against Cell, but there may be scared and hurt people in need of assistance.”

“And also damage that I can use my magic to fix!” exclaimed m0ef0xZer0, “But how do we get to Tokyo if you're heading off in onii-chan's Siegfried?”

“Do you remember the Homucopter?” asked Mami with a grin.

“Yeah, we're going to be ridin' in style!” exclaimed a grinning Kyouko pumping a fist, “We're going to be like Hollywood movie action heroes!”

“Let's hope you're like them in more ways than one!” joked Darthtabby, “You and Super R.”

“And our friends still inside of the hollow game realm.” added Mami Tomoe.

Speaking of which, Haak was about to be truly shocked and amused by who would challenge him next.

“How dare you laugh at the sound of my name?!” exclaimed Kylo Ren, wearing his all-black attire, though missing his helmet, “Do you know who I am, and who I represent?!”

“...You have to be fucking kidding me.” said Haak.

“Haak, is that your name since you hack the universe somehow?!” asked an amazed Saten, “I have some friends that would be very impressed by that!”

“Kylo Ren's timing is craycray.” said Hooves, “But after Freyja, it's not too shocking for an alien to show up in here.”

“It's also not shocking because of the well-groomed laughing Admiral!” exclaimed Freyja, referring to Jinnai, “He's been on many alien worlds, so maybe he had flame-haired elf goddess bring in lots and lotsa different peoples! I wonder if any of them would like some Windermere apples?”

“Just don't eat them while drinking a glass of water.” joked Haak.

“Excuse me...” interjected Kylo Ren in the prissiest sound of voice you've ever heard, “I'm addressing you louts, and I expect to be replied to. If you dot not reply, I will have the First Order destroy you all.”

“First Order, huh?” replied Haak, getting geared up for a fight, “Here's my First Order for you, Ren. Get your candy ass back to a galaxy far, far away.”

“You and I should be the ones to send him there, Haak!” shouted smiling Saten.

“My ass is not made of candy...” stated Ren, horrified at this accusation, “But your ass will be redder than candy after I'm done whipping it!”

“We'll see about that, you prissy patricidin' punk!” shouted Haak, “Now Hooves, you might want to head off if you want to find another opponent to face soon.”

“Good idea, Haak.” replied Hooves, “Freyja and I will head off before you start your match with Kylo Ren.”

So Haak was about to face Kylo Ren! Meanwhile, Haven-playing Akuma Kousaka was about to face Rune-playing FlavoryFantasy.

“Now, let me explain Umi's special passive LRIG ability.” stated FlavoryFantasy proudly, “It is one I'm sure Honoka and Kotori would agree with. It's prudence! With prudence, I get to choose the first three cards I'll be playing with.”

“Yes, it is.” answered Akuma Kousaka, “Especially for this card game, where if you start with too many high-cost cards early on, it can mean sure defeat.”

FlavoryFantasy went first, and she selected her opening hand to be 1 Angelic Snipe, 1 Timeworn Mage Levi, and 1 Kaleidoscopic Glow. Flavory then had the good fortune to draw a second Kaleidoscopic Glow.

FlavoryFantasy used the Angelic Snipe spell to deal 1 damage to Akuma Kousaka. Then Flavory ended her turn.

On Akuma Kousaka's first turn, he played Sacred Vow. Sacred Vow is a countdown amulet that lets you draw three cards once it's completed. Akuma Kousaka then ended his opening turn.

But then, on her second turn, FlavoryFantasy used Kaleidoscopic Grow to return Sacred Vow back into Akuma Kousaka's hand! Flavory then had Umi attack Akuma Kousaka directly for 1 damage, increasing her early health lead to 20 for her and 18 for Akuma.

On Akuma Kousaka's second turn, he played Beastcall Aria, a countdown amulet that eventually provides two followers, a strong 4/4 white tiger and a 2/1 bird with storm. Akuma Kousaka then had his LRIG Fuuka attack Flavory directly for 1 damage.

Unfortunately for Akuma, Beastcall Aria would also be sent back into his hand! This was done on Flavory's third turn, when she played another Kaleidoscopic Glow and used it on Beastcall Aria. Flavory then used her remaining pp point to grow Umi to 2/2. This caused Umi to change from her blue girly Start!Dash outfit into her red and white Bokura no Live Kimi to no Live outfit, an outfit that looks like one for a marching band. Umi then attacked Akuma Kousaka directly for 2 more damage, increasing Flavory's early health lead to 19 for her and 16 for Akuma. Kaleidoscopic Glow has a secondary effect of granting the user a free card draw, so Flavory's hand was increasingly full of useful cards.

“Are we... are we actually winning right now?” asked Umi, almost in disbelief.

“Yes, we amazingly are!” replied Flavory excitedly.

“Don't count out Akuma Kousaka and I just yet!” exclaimed Fuuka proudly, “We're both fighters who hold on to the bitter end!”

To her credit, Fuuka is right. However, FlavoryFantasy's fantastic fast start would ultimately prove insurmountable. A lot of this was due to the makeup of FlavoryFantasy's deck, as well as her play-style.

“This sucks...” said Akuma Kousaka at the start of Flavory's eighth turn, “My Coin Effect is cool, but it's useless against you!”

Akuma Kousaka currently had two low-cost ward followers on the field. They had managed to minimize health loss during turns four through seven, but not entirely. Akuma Kousaka now stood at 8 health, while Flavory was at 11 health. Flavory was now about to use the Coin Effect that would win her the game!

“Coin Bet!” shouted FlavoryFantasy.

“Start!Dash.” said a serenely smiling Umi, loving how the performance that began her school idol career would also be key in helping her win a card game.

In spite of his coming defeat, Akuma Kousaka couldn't help but to feel happy for Umi.

“I'm glad for you, Umi.” he said to here with a smile, “My master was sad and lonely before she met you. I understand why she loves Madoka, but I think she was too focused on Madoka alone. So I'm glad she also has a good friend in you.”

“I feel the same way.” replied Umi, “And don't worry. Flavory and I will carry your dreams forward, Akuma Kousaka! Either Flavory or Bandit Keith will make a wish to help Homura.”

Flavory then used two of her Piercing Runes, just as she said she would. Then came the final attack of the fully grown Umi Sonoda. In this form, she wore a lusciously luminous light white outfit, including short skirt with golden trim and pretty pink petticoats. She also had on a gold and white hat, and golden trimmed thigh-highs. All of the above were fittingly encrusted with glistening runes! But as bright as this attire was, even it paled in comparison to Umi's bright smile as she delivered the finishing blow to the slightly smiling Akuma Kousaka.

Then the match world began to crumble away, sending Akuma Kousaka back into the real world, and leaving FlavoryFantasy with three coins.

“We won!” shouted Umi joyously, leaping into the air.

“I think even Honoka would be bowled over by how excited you are now, Umi!” exclaimed Flavory in turn, “But we can't afford to spend much time celebrating. We have to find Bandit Keith right away!”

“I'm afraid that Bandit Keith will soon be preoccupied with my ally Maximillion Pegasus.” came a womanly voice that was very vaguely familiar to Umi, “Your next opponent will be me.”

FlavoryFantasy and Umi Sonoda then turned around to face the person speaking to them. They saw a tall busty blonde woman wearing a flashy purple armored suit.

“Who are you?” FlavoryFantasy asked this woman.

“I am Carol Malus Dark.” she replied with a confident grin, “And I will defeat you!”

As startled as Flavory was by the identity of her next opponent, Chika Takami was even more startled by the identity of the LRIG currently opposing her.

“Riko...” Chika said in disbelief, at the revealing of Kousei Arima's LRIG.

“Hi Chika.” Riko said very warmly to her, while smiling sweetly, “I know this probably comes as a surprise to you, but I believe it's for the best.”

“Yes, it is for the best.” stated Arima, “Because there is a dream I must secure today. But before we get to that, I want to thank you, Takami Chika.”

“You want to thank me?” asked Chika.

“Yes.” confirmed Arima with a mild smile, “Most importantly, you helped Riko overcome the mental blocks that were preventing her from playing the piano in front of an audience. In fact, I can't help but wish that I had met you before, so you could have helped me the same way with a single diving session.”

Chika and Riko both chuckled shyly over Arima making this playful observation, as he raised one eyebrow and grinned.

“But beyond that...” continued Arima, “You encouraged Riko to temporarily break from Aqours in order to take part in a piano competition. You value her as a pianist, even now, with her also being a school idol. As someone who believes strongly in Riko's talents and abilities, I thank you dearly for that.”

“Kousei Arima is a musical genius, a prodigy.” stated Riko with a light touch of passion, “He was the youngest pianist to win the Saki competition. Along with Kyousuke Kamijo, Reina Kousaka, and Chihaya Kisaragi, he is considered one of the brightest musical lights in all of Japan! It has been my privilege to receive instruction from him.”

“But I fear that instruction will be wasted if Riko continues to split her focus between piano playing and being a school idol.” added Kousei, “Being a top performer in either field is a great challenge. I am extremely skeptical that someone can be a top performer in both fields at the same time.”

“I... I see.” replied Chika, as both her and Riko frowned slightly over Arima's words, unable to think of any good replies to it.

“But maybe you can change my mind.” continued Kousei Arima, while addressing Chika, “Maybe you can prove to be a great enough leader that you can help ensure Riko's success as both a pianist and a school idol. If you are that great of a leader, then you and Windy should be able to defeat Riko and I now!”

“Game on!” exclaimed Windy, now thoroughly pumped up.

Katsuhiko Jinnai was also feeling excited right now, and slightly amused.

“Using Sunny Day Song to make your opponent much stronger, enabling her to win” stated Kotohono with a teasing grin, “This must be awkward for you, Jinnai.”

“It is.” confirmed Jinnai with a wry smile, “But it's for the best. Besides, it's on your fourth turn, so Honoka and I get to keep our record! Ha ha ha ha ha!”

“Be careful out there, Honoka.” said Kotori with a smile, but a concerned face.

“I will.” replied Honoka softly, “Now you and Kotohono make sure you follow through on Mr. J's wish, Ok?”

“We will.” stated Kotohono, “It's a good wish that I can and will support!”

“Bring it on!” exclaimed Katsuhiko with a goading gesture, pretending to be a villain again, leaving Honoka and Kotohono chuckling.

An almost fully grown 13/13 Kotori, in her Yume no Tobira outfit, would deliver the finishing blow to Katsuhiko Jinnai, bringing Kotohono up to four coins! As planned, this also eliminated Jinnai and Honoka from the game, sending them back into the real world.

There they emerged in a white flash, on the grounds of Otonokizaka Academy, near an alpaca family in its stable. Jinnai and Honoka quickly looked about, wanting to determine how much damage Cell had already done to Honoka's high school. Honoka breathed a deep sigh of relief over not noticing much damage at all.

“It looks like somebody must have stopped Cell from causing much damage.” said Honoka.

“Yes.” replied Jinnai, “But we can't rest easy yet. Well, I can't. At this point, Honoka, you should probably get back to your family.”

“Yeah.” agreed Honoka in a slightly sad tone of voice, “But before I go, there's something I want to ask you.”

“What is it?” asked Jinnai.

“Diva, Groucho, Nanoha, and Fate...” began Honoka in question, “Why don't you consider them your friends?”

“Don't get me wrong, I like them!” began Jinnai in answer, “They're very good and loyal allies or subordinates. They respect me, and I respect them, and we get along well. But then, we have to, don't we? It's all very formal and business-like, Honoka. Is it me that they like, or just my position that they feel obligated to follow? Now, with you... You're not in the Bugrom Empire. You're not in TSAB. You're not even part of Tuxedo R's colorful crew of heroes! So you have no obligation whatsoever to help me. Yet, you're always there for me, whenever I pay a visit, and even for a big important mission like this one. That's the sign of a true friendship!”

“I'm afraid that your precious pop Princess is going nowhere, Jinnai!” exclaimed a voice from above, a voice now terribly familiar to Jinnai.

“Satomi...” Jinnai said in stunned disbelief.

Then something even more stunning was heard and seen.

The sight of an unconscious Super R, his suit badly singed, crashing violently to the ground below, right next to where Jinnai and Honoka now stood.

“Is... is that a person that just crashed?!” asked a deeply concerned Honoka.

“You should be worried about yourself right now.” said Tatsuya Dark to Honoka.

Jinnai and Honoka then quickly turned about to see the trio of Satomi Kou, Tatsuya Dark, and Cell flying slowly downwards towards them. Satomi had himself and his two allies encased in purplish transparent energy shields, which he also used to lower them to the ground, along with himself. All three now stood exactly twenty feet away from Jinnai, Honoka, and the fallen form of Super R.

“Satomi and Tatsuya... how, why?!” exclaimed Jinnai in question.

“I'm here because I won.” answered Satomi, “Tatsuya is here because he lost to me.”

“As for Super R, I weakened him with a blast of red sun radiation.” stated Tatsuya Dark, “Kryptonians may be fictional, but if you change your very biology to reflect them, then you get their strengths and their weaknesses. Weaknesses that are easy to exploit.”

“With Super R weakened by Tatsuya, it was child's play for Cell and I to blast him out of the sky.” stated Satomi smugly.

“Cell and you blasted him out of the sky?” asked Honoka

“Yeah, since when can you blast things, Satomi?!” asked Jinnai.

“Since this!” exclaimed Satomi, as he gestured one open hand towards his glowing purple soul gem tie, “By defeating you and Tatsuya, I gained five coins. With that, I received a wish! I wished for an exact replica of your limitless power soul gem, Jinnai. An exact replica except that yours is green while mine is purple. Similarly, my hair and suit are now the complete inversion of yours.”

Satomi spoke the truth. His hair and eyebrows were purple, and his suit was green, the complete opposite of what was true for Jinnai.

“My greatest wish will be fully achieved in mere moments” continued Satomi with a shout, “I am now your exact match when it comes to pure raw power, Jinnai. But you have been softened by the silly saccharine sayings of air-headed singers! So I will now surpass you, Jinnai. I will be your shadow no longer!”

“So that leaves Jinnai's female companion to face Tatsuya and I.” said Cell with an evil grin, “I sadly doubt she's up to the challenge.”

“Who's the winning side now, Kousaka Honoka?” asked Tatsuya with a smug grin.

Longer YouTube music links in this chapter. In some cases, a song will be used for multiple scenes. I hope every reader enjoys Chapter 8, as I think it will contain some serious surprises!

Big thanks to Akuma Kousaka, Haak, Kotohono, Dr. Casey, and Darthtabby for their thoughtful and very cute and truly helpful reviews. Yes, Haak, you're going to face Kylo Ren! But note to all readers - This might be the last time I can go with a reader request like this. Plot is very tight for the final two chapters.

Thanks to Kogetsu Shirogane, Kotohono, FlavoryFantasy, and Akuma Kousaka for their behind-the-scenes help in all the added bells and whistles of Chapter 8.

--Starting off with a strong opening scene. I'd like to know who influenced you to take some good from the DCCU; I WILL FIND HIM. More seriously there's a strong sense of tension here

--There's a subtle softness to Jinnai's dialog here where you can feel him turning around. Maybe he'll...take a CUE, from a certain Star Fleet...admiral, to take hissubordinatesout for a DRINK...justbecause. Or maybe that older captain is a better example to follow

--That was a total wipe against FlavoryFantasy and Umi, but somehow I don't feel pissed. Umi's elation is too infectious to not feel won over here

“Then I'll tell you this much, Cell...” stated Super R, just before launching himself towards Cell.

“I stand for Truth.” shouted Super R, as he threw a punch at Cell, which Cell barely caught with an open palm, leaving Cell gritting his teeth.

“Justice.” continued Super R, as he pulled back on his caught fist, in order to drag Cell into an upwards jutting knee.

“And the Canadian Way!” exclaimed Super R, as he then knocked Cell two miles straight up into the sky with an absolutely awesome uppercut.

I basically saw that as "The Fist of Truth", "The Knee of Justice" and "The Canadian Uppercut".

I also loled hard all throughout the Kylo Ren scene and his extreme indiignation at not being taken seriously at all. I guess he drew the short straw in having to face a freak with a ridiculous mask. Kinda hard being serious when you're up against that. XP

- "This silhouette was slowly and methodically walking towards Cell." Good line, cool and smoothly picks up from the previous one. It's good to see that Super R is dominating the fight here at the beginning, since that's exactly as things should be - fusions are absurdly powerful in Dragon Ball, with even a fusion between two causing an exponential upon exponential growth in power.

- Nooo, a scene change before I can explain what the problem is. I wonder what it is that's so bad? I think this is the first time I've kept myself in suspense before...

- I've never heard "Someday of my Life" before (I don't know if I've listened to any Muse songs that weren't actually featured in the anime). Great song, definitely gives the scene an exciting mood.

- This was a nice scene between Jinnai and Honoka. It's good that Jinnai's openminded enough for once to listen to Honoka here, since she presents an argument that's just as logical as his own even if her solution is emotionally much softer.

- "Dr. Gero told me that many of Earth's mightiest warriors and magic-wielding girls strangely care about this particular place of learning." I'm kind of with you there, Cell, I don't know why people love school so much either.

- "All I have to do is attack some of these powerless bystanders, and my enemies will essentially kill themselves for me!" That's actually a pretty interesting perspective. Not bad, Cell.

- Moefox saying "onii-chan" never fails to be adorable.

- "First Order, huh?" replied Haak, getting geared up for a fight, "Here's my First Order for you, Ren. Get your candy ass back to a galaxy far, far away." Oh, God. I have bad news, guys - Saten isn't going to appear in Railgun season 3. With moments as awesome as this, it's pretty clear that she's going to move away from Academy City to go marry Haak.

- The joke about Kousei wishing that Chika could have helped him with his piano issues the same way that she did with Riko was cute. I like a lot the idea of Kamijo, Reina, Chisaki, and Kousei being considered an unofficial group of sorts as the four best musicians in Japan.

- The brief interlude with Team Jinnai and Team Kona was nice, I like the vibe between all of them here.

- Honoka asking Jinnai why he didn't consider those four to be his friends was nice; it's cute that she would hold onto and be saddened by that. Jinnai and Honoka definitely have a very interesting and well-written relationship. There's a lot of differences between them (Honoka being more empathetic and group-oriented, Jinnai more distant and independent), but there's enough common ground between them that they can usually meet in the middle and operate smoothly.

- And so what's presumably the final battle is being set up (assuming this story has 10 chapters like the previous two did). Cell, Jinnai, and Satomi. This is going to get good.

With (likely) only two chapters left, I felt now was a good time to promote some of the bells and whistles I've made for this fanfic, as well as to reply in a little more detail to some of the recent reviews I've received. First, bells and whistles!

When writing my AS Specials, I tend to visually imagine it as kinda an one-cour 11-episode anime show, maybe trimmed some to fit it into 10 episodes. But I also like to imagine them as Hollywood movie extravaganzas!

With that in mind, I have two Selector Infected Shadowverse movie trailers to share with all my readers, as well as a promotional movie poster.

Here's the longer trailer:

And here's a shorter 32-second or so TV spot-like trailer, focused on recent events in the fanfic:

Hopefully all of this can get readers pumped up for the final two chapters! Also, I'd be curious to hear who AS member characters would like to have play them in a live-action movie version of SIS.

Now then, on to replying to some reviews.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Akuma Kousaka

Chapter 8

--Starting off with a strong opening scene. I'd like to know who influenced you to take some good from the DCCU; I WILL FIND HIM. More seriously there's a strong sense of tension here

I have serious issues with Batman v Superman, but I've softened on Man of Steel over time. I think it's a solid superhero action movie that could have been an excellent one with a few different creative decisions. And one area where I think it's strong is its soundtrack, particularly the "I Will Find Him" soundtrack.

Quote:

--There's a subtle softness to Jinnai's dialog here where you can feel him turning around.

Yes. I should point out that his Chapter 7 and 8 arguments with Honoka were partly to soothe his own conscience, and also partly because he's a little scared of being seen in a more negative light by the only person he considers a friend. In other words, his arguments come more from a place of insecurity than from a place of arrogance.

Quote:

--Also, I'm not sure whether this was a short chapter or whether it just tighter than spandex

Well-played. And thanks!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Haak

I basically saw that as "The Fist of Truth", "The Knee of Justice" and "The Canadian Uppercut".

Very nice, lol! I'm glad that this and Kylon Ren scene both worked well for you, Haak. I have to say, Haak, that I'm relieved you're getting something of value out of this fic, since you haven't played Shadowverse, you only watched a little bit of either WIXOSS anime, and IIRC, you haven't watched either Love Live! or El Hazard.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kotohono

-The back and forth between Honoka & Jinnai was quite good and really strong for Honoka especially .

-Perfect music choice for Haak's section given his oppenent .

-Wow Umi's prudence ability is amazingly useful.
-Flavory & Akito's match was my favorite section of this chapter, it was well done overall, good dialogue and explanation of the match.

I'm very glad that all of this, and everything else you mentioned, worked well for you, Kona. And I agree that Honoka made her case exceptionally well in Chapter 8.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr. Casey

- Nooo, a scene change before I can explain what the problem is. I wonder what it is that's so bad? I think this is the first time I've kept myself in suspense before...

Quote:

- I've never heard "Someday of my Life" before (I don't know if I've listened to any Muse songs that weren't actually featured in the anime). Great song, definitely gives the scene an exciting mood.

I'm glad you liked it! I think it's fitting for Honoka's successful persuasion here. And I also think it works reasonably well for the the rest of Super R vs. Cell in Chapter 8.

Quote:

- "First Order, huh?" replied Haak, getting geared up for a fight, "Here's my First Order for you, Ren. Get your candy ass back to a galaxy far, far away." Oh, God. I have bad news, guys - Saten isn't going to appear in Railgun season 3. With moments as awesome as this, it's pretty clear that she's going to move away from Academy City to go marry Haak.

lol!

Quote:

- Honoka asking Jinnai why he didn't consider those four to be his friends was nice; it's cute that she would hold onto and be saddened by that. Jinnai and Honoka definitely have a very interesting and well-written relationship. There's a lot of differences between them (Honoka being more empathetic and group-oriented, Jinnai more distant and independent), but there's enough common ground between them that they can usually meet in the middle and operate smoothly.

I think you're getting what I'm aiming for here, Dr. Casey. One thing I'm trying to accomplish with Selector Infected Shadowverse is to have it really feel like a fully realized bigshared universe, similar to how the DC and Marvel comic universes work. And a big part of that is you have a variety of teams, and a variety of key players, and a variety of heroes and villains. And there can be differences among the heroes and among the villains. I think that all of this makes a shared universe feel very rich and vibrant and lively and kinda real. And you can also have people from one faction/team be close to people from another faction/team. You particularly tend to have the leaders of various factions be close to each other.

So the key players of AS Special-verse are now Dr. Casey, Tuxedo R, Kaname Madoka, Katsuhiko Jinnai, Honoka Kousaka, and Akuma Homura. These are the characters that truly bring everything together, and their relationships (I hope) make the fanfic feel more whole in spite of its massive crossover nature. There's now a fairly detailed special history between Jinnai and Honoka, and there's similarly a fairly detailed friendship between Homura and Umi. So the fact that there's so many different TV shows all playing into things here... I hope that's melting away some.

Just to be clear, every AS member character brings something valuable to the table. But Dr. Casey's tech, say, is something that's very convenient and better enables alliances and meeting of the minds. Honoka now has close connections to TSAB and to the puella magi and to Tuxedo R's hero crew. Jinnai is basically TSAB's representative on Earth, meaning that he wields considerable power and influence even putting aside what his Soul Gem does for him.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darthtabby

To echo what others have said, this chapter was tense. That wasn't something I really expected, but I think it's to the story's benefit.

Agreed. With my AS Special fanfics, I aim for the first half or so (the first 5 chapters) to be pretty loose and fun-loving and zany, but for the things to get increasing serious and tense from there, to hopefully lead into a highly dramatic and satisfying climax/conclusion.

... Get up...
......... I said get up...
......... Get up now or no more tea for you...
... uhn...... Good hatter... you can go back to being almost dead after the reviews...
Fine fine...

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Chapter 7 - Be Careful What You Wish For
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The opening conflict between Kotohono and Tatsuya was quite well-handled, and the hacking of a card to work in the latter's favor was really funny. Still, it wasn't enough to actually bring him a victory, as Kotohono's Silver Bolt finished him off.... I love the name of that spell...
Of course you do.

So Dr Casey created a method of fusion that lasts five hours, huh? That's significantly longer than most anime fusions. Also, thanks Fate. I mean, clearly you were right that I couldn't take care of Cell on my own, but you could have at least made it seem like I had a chance.
Also, hahaha, WWF Reactor. I must've missed that PPV.

... Yay... more moments between Honoka and Jinnai...... the above was sarcasm, in case it wasn't obvious...
But in seriousness, that was actually rather well handled, and Kotori's arrival was good timing as it allowed for cooler heads to prevail after the psychological damage caused by the encounter with Satomi. Also kinda like how the exchange between her and Kotohono at the end allowed the tone to shift more easily between the somberness of the above and the silliness that follows Haak around. Also, I love it when a joke turns into foreshadowing.

What I don't love is getting pummeled by a giant green bug man. That hurt. Ow. ... You'll get better... eventually...
Well maybe if someone were to have helped me, I would've done better!... Alice did her part...
That's not who I meant, and you know it.... I hope you don't mean me...
Who else could I have been talking about?!... The Queen of Hearts?
Do I have to remind you that me dying is seriously hazardous to your health?... No worse than directly putting myself in harm's way...
That's beside the point!... Things didn't go that far anyway, now did they?
Well no, but...... You should really get back to the review...
... Right... well, despite me taking quite the pummelling, I do have to admit, that was a well-written fight scene. I suppose if anyone were to get a clear and decisive victory over me, it makes sense for it to be Cell.

The revelation of Akuma's LRIG was nicely handled, and I really chuckled over her reaction to being so well known outside Midchilda, and Jinnai's inability to not brag being the reason for that even being the case was hilarious.AND THEN THERE'S BANDIT KEITH!
Even when there's just two of 'em around, Team America always steps up to deliver a laugh or three. Sorry Hanamaru and Rin, but there's just no stopping the Liberty Train when it comes roaring down the tracks. Also totally loving Keith's renaming of those cards. And that coin bet, wow. That was really yuuuge. Believe me. I swear, you really would've done me in had Haak ever faced Keith in this.

Of course, that's basically it for this chapter's humor, as a truly touching discussion between Kotori and Honoka followed, giving the latter the encouragement she needed to confront Jinnai about how they should proceed with things. It isn't really fair to have the two best scenes of the chapter back to back, y'know. It'd be hard enough to pick a favorite between this and 'Murica without that, but you went and made it harder.

Of course, that isn't to say Super R's arrival scene wasn't also good. It's great to know my near-fatal sacrifice wasn't in vain.

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Chapter 8 - The Sum of All Fears
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Picking up immediately where Chapter 7 left off, we see Cell getting the pummelling he rightly deserves for ruining my hat.... I... never mind...
Unfortunately the giant green cockroach decided to scurry away to Otonokizaka before you could finish him off.

Of course Jinnai's evil double would comment on insects.

I really liked the conversation between Jinnai and Honoka, and really, Honoka probably is the only person who could convince Jinnai of all people to lose on purpose.

The mental image of Cell floating menacingly over Otonokizaka under pouring rain is quite the powerful one, I must admit. And judging from the condition I ended up in after fighting him, that shot you took was most certainly powerful as well. It's also nice to see the military getting involved in a crisis situation, even if they had little effect on Cell.

Also, not sure if Dr Casey's remark over spilled milk was intended as a reference to a certain vampire encounter or not, but that's how I took it.
Either way, the whole scene with the Doc and company was nice, and I'm just dying to find out who this specialist is.... I felt a great disturbance... as if millions of voices suddenly groaned in pain... mine was one of them...
... Speaking of Star Wars... Gotta agree with everyone else who commented that everything about the Kylo Ren scene was hilarious.

As for the FlavoryFantasy vs Akuma battle that followed it, I'm legitimately torn between feeling really bad for Akuma encountering the perfect counter for his deck and feeling really happy for Umi being so proud of finally winning a card game.
Though I suppose I should feel bad for the both of them, considering their well-thought plans came to a screeching halt thanks to Mr Pegasus and Carol Dark intervening... also it's kinda funny how the only one of these fics lacking Carol was the Christmas one.

I really liked the setup to the Windy vs Arima battle. Wishing for a potential piano prodigy to focus on her piano career is a really good motivation, and I can also see things from the perspective of wanting to keep Aquors together. It's honestly tough for me to decide who I'd want to root for.

... Jinnai not only throwing a match, but also powering up his opponent? Wow, Honoka has changed him a lot.
But I guess if it means getting home faster to deal with a more pressing threat, it has to be done. That last moment between Jinnai and Honoka before the bad guys had to go and ruin everything was really nice. Jinnai's explanation for why he considers Honoka to be his true friend in particular was very nicely done.

Of course, the final scene of the chapter is an excellent way to finish it off. The super hero is down, the villains are in full-on gloat mode, and we even got an evil laugh out of Bizarro Jinnai to boot! Even better, the reason for them showing up features someone saying the words "Tatsuya is here because he lost"

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Two really great chapters, and I'm looking forward the next one. I'm also looking forward to hopefully being in better condition than "almost a corpse" in the near future.

... THUD ...

... well at least the reviews got completed before that happened...

*e* ... now that I think of it... if Kogetsu is only familiar with some of you because of this thread, it's safe to assume the same is true the other way around... I should probably explain myself for those of you who are probably confused... I'll also drop the coloring for it to make it easier to read...

Spoiler for silvery explanations:

There are two ways of answering the "what's with the silver text?" question, the simple way and the more complicated manner...
Simple answer: Kogetsu is a nut and I'm one of the "voices in my head" sorts of things...
more complicated answer: ... Kogetsu is, quite obviously for someone willing to play the role of a Mad Hatter, incredibly fond of theatrics... So when it wouldn't make much sense to comment on something normally --such as a period of a fanfic where Kogetsu-the-Character is rendered unable to communicate-- I more or less take over... there have been other reasons, but that's mostly it... Hopefully it has been clear enough over these last few years when it's "me" reviewing and when it's "Kogetsu"...
As you can probably imagine, this would be really aggravating for anyone to endure, so I find it necessary to "voice my opinion" whenever it suits my whims... Otherwise I mainly just relax in my little corner of that lovely signature down below...

... hopefully that has cleared things up for anyone who might have been confused...

__________________

WARNING: Kogetsu Shirogane cannot be held accountable for any actions taken by someone else. Potential side effects of communicating with this user include headaches, mild confusion, insanity, delirium, and jumping into fires. Do not expose this user to sunlight or water or feed this user after midnight.

Rain continued to pour out of the darkened Tokyo skies. But would a different deepening darkness overwhelm Honoka Kousaka's heart, as she and Katsuhiko Jinnai faced the truly terrible trio of Perfect Cell, Satomi Kou, and Tatsuya Dark?

“Before we begin this likely very short fight...” began Cell with smug grin, and neatly folded arms, “There's something I want to ask the girl. From what I've heard, you're like a good luck charm, but otherwise just another pathetically weak human. So how are you still standing there? Aren't you terrified? How are you not running away?”

“Of course I'm scared.” answered Honoka, “But there are people I believe in. And people I won't abandon in their darkest hour. People like my friend Mr. J.”

That was enough for Mr. J to find the nerve to truly put it all on the line.

“Heed my words, gentlemen!” exclaimed Jinnai, as he took two steps forward and dramatically threw one arm in front of Honoka, “If either of you attack Honoka, then I will give all three of you the fight of your lives, and I will be taking one of you down with me.”

“No, it's not amusing, it's disgusting.” stated Tatsuya Dark with considerable loathing, as he lifted up a gun loaded with silver bullets, “It's disgusting how much she's corrupted him. For that wrong, and many others, it is time for you to die, Kousaka Honoka!”

Jinnai steeled himself to make good on his threat, and Honoka quickly raced behind him. But this would prove unnecessary, as Tatsuya's three shots would all be deflected away by the startling arrival of Apostle! A dramatically leaping Apostle achieved this deflection by bringing most of his tiny comets together just in front of Jinnai, causing three silver bullets to loudly ping off of them!

“...Is he with you?” a startled Jinnai asked Honoka.

“I thought he was with you.” answered Honoka.

“I am with no one!” exclaimed Apostle, “I am Apostle. I am a servant of pure Order, which Tatsuya and his allies now threaten!”

Apostle then raced wildly at Tatsuya, and the two quickly entered into incredibly intense combat. The two combatants then had a wild exchange of punches and parries, of kicks and blocks, of slashes and dodges. Their combat was impressive enough to temporarily distract everyone else gathered.

“I wonder if I should help Tatsuya.” said Cell, “This new opponent seems fun!”

“No.” stated Satomi, “Honoka is a troublesome X factor. She must be eliminated! So take care of her while I deal with Jinnai.”

“This isn't your private war.” came a voice very familiar to Honoka, but in this case addressing Satomi, “Instead, it's time for a Shocking Party!”

The next thing Cell knew, he found himself struck by a thick thunderous blue beam, also crackling with yellowish electricity! Cell grunted loudly from this attack, which managed to push him back, and force him to dig in his feet in desperate attempt to hold his position.

“A-RISE!” exclaimed Honoka with big bright smile at the sight of Tsubasa and Erena, in their black Shocking Party outfits, both holding the large heavy gun they had just discharged at Cell.

“That's one of the most high-tech pieces of weaponry in existence!” shouted Jinnai, as he looked at the gun being used by A-RISE, “It's a high-tech anti-gravity gun. Even Midchilda has only eight of them on the entire planet! How the hell do you have one?!”

“You're not the only one with powerful connections, Jinnai Katsuhiko.” answered Tsubasa Kira with a grin.

“But it's good to see you looking dashing as ever.” stated Anju Yuuki with a playful smile towards Jinnai, while she played with her hair with one finger.

“W-why... thank you!” replied Jinnai, stuttering at first but then with confidence.

“Enough of this farce.” sneered Satomi, “I will not be stopped by some silly singers!”

With outstretched arm and open palm, Satomi then fired a perceptibly powerful purplish energy blast directly at A-RISE! Thankfully for them, this blast would be destroyed by a well-coordinated greenish energy blast from Jinnai. Tsubasa and Erena gritted their teeth, and closed their eyes, at the earth-shaking sounds and almost blinding light caused by these two blasts canceling out. A-RISE also managed to hold on to their gun!

“Start!Dash!” shouted Jinnai, as he used his limitless power soul gem to conjure up truly mighty winds that would send a loudly grunting Satomi flying fifty feet backwards.

“I'm glad you approve.” replied a stoic Jinnai, “But this merely buys us a little time.”

“And your time is almost up!” exclaimed Cell, as he was starting to overcome the immense anti-gravity energy stream being sent his way by A-RISE's gun.

Cell was slowly but methodically walking towards the gun, as it began rattling in the increasingly nervous hands of Tsubasa and Erena.

“We shouldn't let A-RISE and Apostle's help go to waste!” shouted Honoka to Jinnai, “There must be some way that we can...”

“...Sunlight...” groaned Super R, shaking as he slowly came to and struggled to rise himself, “I need... yellow... sunlight.”

Honoka's eyes then lit up at the realization of something she could do here. Honoka then placed two cupped hands over her mouth, and breathed in heavily, in order to...

“Rain, GO AWAY…” came a crystal clear cry from Honoka, “AWAY!Away…”

Then, sure enough, the rain rapidly began to stop! Storm clouds slowly dispersed. The sun began to shine brightly overhead. Honoka made a big wide smile, as her face radiated with pure bliss, over her miraculous weather control. Standing next to her was a greatly amused Jinnai, stretching both arms up and wide, as he laughed loudly.

“Bwa-ha-ha-hahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAahahahahAHA-HA-HA~!!!”

“Thanks, Honoka!” exclaimed Super R with a grin, as he quickly rose to his feet, “Now, A-RISE, you can turn off that gun. I'll take care of Cell from here!”

“Right!” said Tsubasa cheerfully, as Super R sprinted towards Cell, and then sent both he and Cell torpedoing high into the air with a flying charge!

“Tatsuya and Apostle are nowhere to be seen...” said Jinnai to himself, “Their fight must have spilled outside this school's grounds. And Super R is back up, fighting Cell!”

“We're not going to lose!” exclaimed Honoka, bringing a fist in close to her chest.

But then a growling Satomi came roaring back, making a flying charge at Jinnai!

Jinnai managed to catch both of Satomi's fists with two open palms, but Satomi managed to send both himself and Jinnai flying into the air. A great mixed aura of green and purple energy emanated outwards from the two combatants, as their flashy fantastic fight went higher and higher into the air.

Three separate fights involving six extremely powerful combatants now raged throughout Tokyo and her skies. The fate of Tokyo, Japan, and all of Earth now hung in the balance.

Chapter 9The Power of Friendship

Honoka looked up into the air, taking in the fight between Jinnai and Satomi, until it finally spilled beyond her field of vision. Tsubasa Kira then approached her.

“What do you plan to do now, Honoka?” Tsubasa asked her in a tone of friendly warmth.

“Yeah, that makes sense.” stated Tsubasa, “Erena, Anju, and I need to get our anti-gravity gun back to a secure location. But after you find your daughter, please give us a call so we'll all know that you're Ok.”

“Thanks, Tsubasa!” shouted Honoka in reply, “I'll do that.”

So Honoka then headed off to find her daughter. What Bandit Keith would soon find is a surprising yet familiar opponent.

“I hope we don't have to wait much longer to face Akuma Kousaka or FlavoryFantasy in a match, in America.” stated Bandit Keith casually to Kaname Madoka, as they both stood upon the rooftop of Mitakihara Middle School, waiting for their next opponent.

“In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.” said Magical Girl USA, quoting Dwight D. Eisenhower.

“So you think they might be planning for their upcoming match against us?” asked Bandit Keith, “I guess that is a prudent course of action for anybody who battles in America!”

“Pegasus!” shouted a startled Bandit Keith, “What are you doing in America?!”

“We're not in America, my geographically challenged friend.” answered Pegasus, “But then most Americans are poorly educated in world geography, aren't they?”

“How dare you insult Americans like that, you sorry excuse for an American!” shouted Bandit Keith in reply, “So I challenge you to a duel right here in America!”

“Excellent.” replied Pegasus with a smooth self-confident smile.

Kaname Madoka looked concerned over this, as it definitely wasn't part of the plan. Then she remembered what she just said about plans, and so she decided to make the most of the situation. This wouldn't be hard for Kogetsu Shirogane, as in spite of his considerable injuries, he awoke to see himself being attended to by...

“Maki Nishikino! Quelle Surprise!” he exclaimed, at the sight of her in her white physician outfit, as well as black skirt and black thigh-highs.

“You should be surprised, after how you fought against Santa-san and precious Christmas once!” Maki replied to him with feigned anger.

“That's all in the past.” protested Alice Margatroid, defending her Mad Hatter master.

“It is in the past, thanks to my good friend Hanayo Koizumi.” replied Maki, as she smiled more warmly at Kogetsu, “At least you have good taste in women, Kogetsu.”

“You're welcome.” she replied to Kogetsu and Alice, “Hopefully I can have you fixed up shortly, Kogetsu. Super R and all our friends might soon have need of your help once more. I hope Santa-san will be Ok...”

Kyouko Sakura, Mami Tomoe, and m0ef0xZer0 hoped the same, and they also hoped that their other friends Tuxedo R and Sayaka Miki and Nanoha Takamachi would ultimately be Ok. To that end, and to the end of helping Tokyo, the three finely feminine frilly-attired heroines had all landed the Homucopter on the top of UTX Academy. From there, they were able to watch two major ongoing fights – A brutal brawling battle between Super R and Cell, and a shimmering smooth strafing contest between Katsuhiko Jinnai and Satomi Kou.

“Yeah, but he's gettin' distracted a lot.” replied Kyouko, “And the fight between Jinnai and that green-suited guy looks terribly tight with flashy fireballs flyin' off of them!”

“It's also leaving some civilians racing away in fear...” stated a deeply concerned Mami Tomoe, “So we should try and intervene in Jinnai's fight. Also, if Cell manages some big distraction for Super R, it would be good if Jinnai is freed up to pursue Cell.”

“But until they do, it's all up ta' us!” shouted Kyouko with aggressive toothy grin, and piece of pocky hanging out of her mouth, “So let's rumble!”

Sword-playing Haak and his LRIG Saten were similarly looking to rumble against Forest-playing Kylo Ren and his LRIG Captain Phasma. Phasma was in her shining silver stormtropper armour, and she also had on her black cape with red trim.

“You're playing Forest...” stated Ruiko Saten in slight disbelief, “That's pretty ironic given all the forests you and your people have incinerated.”

“There is a good reason why we play Forest.” replied Captain Phasma, “A reason you will soon see.”

“So much for your First Order, Ren.” stated Haak, “Because I'm the one who gets to go first. And I go first by playing Quickblader, who's going to kick things off by putting a scratch on that precious pretty face of yours!”

A human follower with a steely sneer, and two steely weapons, the storming Quickblader made good on Haak's declaration. And so Haak jumped out to an early 20 health to 19 health lead. Haak then ended his turn, so Ren began his first turn.

“The First Order is used to dealing with many myopic malcontents like you, and pipsqueeks like your Quickblader.” stated Kylon Ren to Haak, “So my turnaround draws nigh!”

“Somebody should turn you around and kick that candy ass of yours!” exclaimed Haak in reply, “And I'm just the man to do it, you fucking traitor to your own family!”

“Well, you're a traitor to proper vocabulary!” shouted Kylo Ren in turn, “And I have the perfect way to defeat you. Coin bet!”

“Clone Wars.” stated Captain Phasma in a very ominous tone of voice.

Ren then played the amazingly cute Elf Child May, with her fluffy pink and white attire well-suited for windy wintry weather, especially because of its two large pointy cat ears at the top. The red-eyed silver-haired May also brandishes a bow and arrow, which she uses to deliver 1 damage to a random enemy follower! And so Haak's Quickblader was killed. But much more concerning was what happened next.

A second Elf Child May appeared right next to the first, in a flash of greenish-white light.

“From this point on, every follower I play will result in an exact copy appearing next to it.” stated Kylo Ren with smug grin, “You're about to be swamped by my clone army, Haak! Quite fitting, given Forest's tendency towards endless fairies.”

Captain Phasma then chuckled, while Haak and Saten both steeled themselves for a truly tough fight.

While Haak and Saten steeled themselves for a tough fight, Darthtabby and Dr. Casey did the same, as their Homura rescue mission was underway!

To that end, Darthtabby and Dr. Casey were closing in on Dr. Gero’s back-up hideout at hypersonic velocity aboard the former’s tiger-striped VF-31 Siegfried. Darthtabby licked his lips in anticipation as the valkyrie's navigation system indicated they were approaching the target coordinates, which appeared to be located midst an abandoned industrial complex.

“Let’s go, Kawaiiko-Chan,” Darthtabby whispered as he ran a gloved hand across the top of the valkyrie’s main Multi Function Display.

“Who are you talking to?” asked Dr. Casey, as he strained to look forward over Darthtabby’s shoulder from his position in the VF-31’s jump seat.

“Well, it’s an inanimate obje...” began Dr. Casey in reply, before being cut off.

Dr. Casey was cut off by the trilling of a missile warning alarm as several red threat indicators appeared on the glass of the cockpit canopy. Darthtabby instantly put the valkyrie into a high speed dive and released a string of anti-missile decoys. Behind him he could hear Dr. Casey retching.

“Don’t puke Doc.” stated Darthtabby, “This baby’s brand new.”

Doctor Casey’s response was unprintable. Huge rippling explosions, some too close for comfort, blotted out the sky behind the valkyrie as the anti missile decoys did their work.

“Doc, can you get a fix on those launch sites for me?” asked Darthtabby. called back, hoping Casey might be able to do a sensor scan while he concentrated on piloting.

“Damn it Darth, I’m a doctor, not a -mmmph!” exclaimed Dr. Casey in reply, very unusually unhelpful given how his body currently felt.

'So much for that new valkyrie smell.' Darthtabby thought wryly, as he pulled out of the dive.

Skimming along just above the ground at supersonic speed, Darthtabby popped up to fire several volleys from his machine’s own missile tubes towards the approximate location of the enemy launch sites. Then, as he approached the edge of the industrial complex, he shifted from Fighter to GERWALK mode, using the thrust from his engines to violently decelerate before passing into a street between some buildings. He then shifted again into Battroid mode, a standing up-right humanoid form, and took cover behind what had probably been an administrative building.

There was a beep as the valkyrie’s sensors picked up a large heat signature nearby. Darthtabby peeked his mech’s head around the corner of the building to get a look at it. The signature was from another mech. A huge one, at least twice as tall as the VF-31 in Battroid mode. It had a hulking, rounded shape that made Darthtabby think of some sort of Golem. He shook his head in disgust. Didn’t the designer realize how wasteful and inefficient such oversized mechs were? He’d have to show Dr. Gero the error of his ways. Leaning around the corner, Darthtabby set the VF-31’s handheld high output beam cannon to its maximum power output and took aim. A moment later he fired. The beam pierced the giant mech's torso armor, and a moment later it blew up in a massive explosion that leveled several nearby buildings.

Darthtabby smirked. That had been easy. He was going to have a field day ambushing such large and clumsy machines in this sort of built up environment.

The warning alarm sounded just in time. Darthtabby glanced to the side of his position and saw another giant mech extending an arm towards his own. It opened fire with a set of heavy guns mounted on its forearm. Darthtabby used the VF-31’s pinpoint barrier system in conjunction with one of its arm mounted shields to protect himself as he sought cover, avoiding any damage. Well, almost any damage. The valkyrie itself was fine, but the external gunpod containing the high output beam cannon was not. Which meant that things were about to get a lot more difficult…

In the valkyrie’s jump seat, Dr. Casey moaned.

“Is it over yet?” asked Dr. Casey.

Darthtabby shook his head.

“Hang on Doc.” stated Darthtabby, “Things are about to get wild.”

Before Doctor Casey could respond, Darthtabby sent the VF-31 leaping out from behind cover and charged the second enemy mech, dodging rapidly from side to side in a half-successful attempt to avoid incoming fire. The remaining hits he blocked with the VF-31’s arm shields and pinpoint barrier system. As the valkyrie approached his target, it leaped into the air and drew back one of its arms, green energy crackling around its clenched fist as he concentrated the pinpoint barrier for a punch. The blow struck the enemy mech's head, pulverizing both it and the sensors it contained.

Darthtabby had no time to celebrate the success of his attack. Almost immediately a missile warning trilled, and he twisted the VF-31 to face the new threat: a barrage of missiles and behind it, just visible over the top of an intervening building, another of the giant mechs.

'Just how many of these things are there?' Darthtabby wondered as he let rip with a fusillade from the VF-31’s head mounted beam guns and shell firing arm cannons that turned the incoming missile volley into a cloud of smoke and fire.

Shifting into GERWALK mode, he threw open the throttle and shot under the fiery haze. Maneuvering around intervening buildings at high speed, he shifted back to Battroid mode and hit the enemy mech with a pinpoint barrier punch to the groin that wrecked its drive system and sent it toppling to the ground.

Wasting no time, Darthtabby then shifted back into GERWALK mode and deployed the VF-31’s swing arm mounted mission module, which was loaded with additional missiles to supplement the already expended contents of the leg mounted missile tubes. Boosting into the air, he did a quick sensor scan that picked up three more of the giant mechs. He fired the mission module’s missiles at one, then dove back down into the streets of the complex as the enemy responded in kind. Chunks of debris rained down from above as missiles slammed into nearby buildings. One piece almost took out the VF-31’s cockpit canopy.

Weaving through the streets, Darthtabby made for the nearest of the remaining enemy mechs and managed to catch it off guard. Coming in from behind, he shifted into Battroid mode and smashed the giant’s head with a single pinpoint barrier punch, then put several cannon shells through its rear engine exhaust port for good measure. The next enemy would prove more challenging.

Located in a wide open area of the complex, it had plenty of time to detect the VF-31’s approach and react, turning to face the smaller mech and launching missiles from the numerous tubes located in its bulky shoulders. Darthtabby blasted the incoming warheads out of the sky, then shifted his aim to the mech’s head, hoping his particle beams and cannon shells could damage the machine’s delicate sensors even if they couldn’t penetrate its heavy armor. As if learning from his tactics, the enemy mech raised one arm to protect its head as it returned fire with the guns on its other arm. Dancing around the incoming fire with footwork that would make a character from Yuri on Ice proud, Darthtabby’s VF-31 closed in and managed to get behind the enemy machine, where it fired into the exhaust port at point blank range with both arm cannons. The giant mech ceased moving and toppled forward with an earth shaking thud.

The fight seemingly over, Darthtabby let the hovering VF-31 settle to the ground and looked to his passenger.

“Are you all right?” Darthtabby asked Dr. Casey.

“I think I’m going to be sick. Again.” Dr. Casey replied, “Still Darth, good work! Now please drop me off at the target coordinates. It's time to save Homura!”

While Dr. Casey was now headed after Homura, Kotohono and Kotori were hoping to find Satomi Kou. However, it would not be Satomi Kou, but someone else, who would be Kotohono's final opponent.

“I hope we can find Satomi soon, and defeat him, and make Katsuhiko's wish.” stated Kotori.

“Agreed.” replied Kotohono, “It's too bad we have no idea of where Satomi is.”

“Then let me answer that question for you.” came the voice of Carol Malus Dark, greatly surprising both Kotohono and Kotori, “But I'm sure seeing me will give you many more questions!”

Kotohono and Kotori then turned about to face a tall busty blonde woman wearing a flashy purple armored suit.

“I am the clone of Carol Malus Dienheim.” replied Carol Dark with one raised eyebrow and a playful grin, “As for Satomi, he was granted a wish, and he has escaped into the real world! A glorious alliance between Satomi, Tatsuya, Cell, Dr. Gero, Pegasus, Roid Brehm and I will soon bear delicious bitter fruit for the entire real world.”

“No...” stated Kotori in fright, “Honoka could be in danger!”

“She definitely is.” replied Carol with a malicious grin, “And poor Umi Sonoda. So soon after she finally won a card game, she was put back on the losing track by me. FlavoryFantasy looked so horrified and overwhelmed at the sight of three of my followers all being 7/7 or greater!”

Old rivalries were about to renew with Hooves and Freyja facing Roid. But a new and friendly rivalry was currently underway between Dragon-playing Windy and Sword-playing Kousei Arima. This match also pitted friend against friend, as Chika Takmi and Riko Sakuarachi both started the match in their Daisuki Dattara Daijoubu costumes, with Chika's being orange and yellow and white, and Riko's being pink and white.

Windy had the first turn, and used that turn to play Dragon Oracle, giving her a free additional play point orb. Windy then ended her turn, and so Arima began his first turn.

On Windy's second turn, she used her 4 pp points to play Dragon Warrior, a gnarly looking dragon with 3 power and 4 toughness. Windy then had Chika attack Arima for 1 damage.

On Arima's second turn, he played Maid Leader, who truly looks like a maid leader, and is a 1/1 that puts a Commander from your deck and into your hand. Arima then had Riko attack Windy for 1 damage, resulting in 1 damage also being done to Dragon Warrior.

On Windy's third turn, she played Draconic Fervor, which restored her health back to full, drew 2 cards for her, and gave her an additional free play point orb. She then had Dragon Warrior and Chika both attack, bringing Arima down to 15 health.

On Arima's third turn, he played Novice Trooper. He then had Maid Leader, Novice Trooper and Riko attack Windy directly, bringing Windy down to 16 health. Symphony of Destruction then caused an additional four damage to Dragon Warrior, destroying him.

On Windy's fourth turn, with 7 PP points accumulated, she played the devastating Dark Dragoon Forte! The long dark-haired red-eyed heavily armored dragoon was as stunning in her beauty as she was in her 5 attack. With her free remaining PP point, Windy grew Chika to 2/2, changing Chika's attire to her Yume de Yozora o Terashitai costume, a simple elegant reddish costume complimented with big red bows. Windy then attacked with both Forte and Chika, bringing Arima down to a mere 8 health!

“Impressive.” said Arima, “But your Forte won't last for long. I also have ward followers to help me out.”

On Arima's fourth turn, he played the ward follower Mirage Defender. Mirage Defender wears simply sparkling silver armor including a long blue cape, and he holds a large diamond-shaped ravishing shield. He also sports a tight blonde crew-cut, and has 3 attack and 4 defense. Just to be on the safe side, Arima then used an evolve point to evolve Mirage Defender to 5/6! He then had Maid Leader, Novice Trooper, and Riko attack Windy directly, bringing Windy down to 12 health. Symphony of Destruction then caused the destruction of Forte, given her 1 defense. Arima then ended his fourth turn.

“Delta Field.” said Chika, amused at how the name of Windy's coin effect might be more appropriate for Hooves' Freyja.

“All of my followers, LRIGs, follower effects, and spell effects deal 1 extra damage to everything, until the end of my opponent's next turn.” stated Windy, explaining Delta Field, “Delta Field also has a potent defensive effect, but that doesn't matter right now. What matters is what Delta Field will do after I play Lucifer, and evolve him!”

Lucifer has sharp angular features and short silvery hair. He fittingly looks like a literal angel. When not evolved, he wears mostly white cloths, but his attire is decidedly black with massive black wings when evolved. And when evolved, he's a strong 9/8 that deals 4 damage directly to the enemy leader. Thanks to Delta Field, that would now become 5 damage. Lucifer would then clear the way for Chika to make the finishing attack, as Lucifer destroyed Arima's Mirage Defender.

“Bravo.” stated Arima, “A truly flawless performance. And one that leaves me confident that Takami Chika is a great enough leader to ensure that Riko is a top performer as both a pianist, and a school idol.”

“Really?” asked Chika with slightly skeptical slanted eyebrows, feeling doubtful over Arima's words, “Windy and I were very lucky, really.”

“I feel that luck is preparation meeting opportunity.” replied Arima, “Preparation and opportunity are both essential to being a successful pianist.”

“He's right, Chika.” said Windy, “Now we should celebrate this great victory, and prepare to make a wish! So attack Arima to finish this match off!”

In the process of making her attack, Chika would take a brief detour in order to snugly hug Riko, with Riko's arms warmly spread out to receive Chika. The two girls then whispered some sweet nothings to each other, as the match world dramatically crumbled away. Meanwhile, Super R was hoping he could make the threat of Cell crumble away.

Super R had dominated most of his fight with Cell, as Super R proved a little faster and stronger than Cell. However, Cell had managed to keep Super R at bay through random attacks on the civilians of Tokyo. Also, Cell managed to shoot a blast of energy through a descending airplane very high in the air. This forced Super R to knock Cell back, and fly up, up, and away in desperate attempt to save this airplane and its passengers.

Cell then took this opportunity to brush himself off, catch his breath, and better scout his current surroundings. He then took particular notice of a little three-year old girl racing towards a subway entrance. She had a big smile, green eyes, and brown hair with a tiny side-tail tied up with a pink bow. Her face looked familiar to Cell, so he did a DNA scan of her with his advanced vision. Sure enough, this girl was precisely who Cell sadistically hoped she would be.

“Kasumi Kousaka.” Cell joyfully sneered to himself, “Oh, this is going to be simply delicious!”

Cell then slowly flew after this girl, with gravely ill intent.

Honoka finally found her daughter, as Honoka was already searching the subway station that Kasumi was now at. At the sight of her daughter, Honoka shouted out “Kasumi!” in great relief, as she raced towards her daughter.

“Honk-mama!” shouted out Kasumi joyfully, as she raced towards Honoka.

But heading towards both of them from the side was a flying...

“Cell...” said Honoka in total horror, noticing him in the corner of her eyes.

Cell had transformed one of his hands into a long greenish blade, and his intentions were crudely crystal clear. Honoka crouched down to tightly grab her daughter, and turned her back to Cell. Honoka prepared for the worst, and now expected it.

“I'm sorry, Kasumi!” Honoka cried out, with tear droplets in the corner of her eyes.

But then Honoka heard the voice of one of her friends go “Aaaaahhhh...!” as he desperately flew towards her, hoping to intercept Cell before Cell could reach Honoka. Then Honoka heard this friend cry out in considerable pain. And Honoka saw the point of Cell's long greenish blade stop just two centimeters short of one of her eyes. And on that blade she saw trickling blood. The blood of Katsuhiko Jinnai.

“I will not... let you hurt them... Cell!” shouted Jinnai, straining against the pain and immense physical pressure he now felt.

“Mr. J...” said Honoka in breathless surprise, as she quickly moved two feet away and lifted Kasumi up into her arms, as she stood up and turned about to face Jinnai.

“Uncle J!” exclaimed Kasumi in great cheer at the sight of him.

“Ha ha!” laughed Cell with wide open smile, “This is even better than I had hoped!”

Jinnai had been badly wounded by Cell. Cell's blade had cut straight through Jinnai's chest, just below his heart! And it took considerable amounts of soul gem power for Jinnai to enhance his physical might in order to hold back Cell. It was clear that Jinnai could not hope to hold Cell back for long.

“I can see why Tatsuya is disgusted at how you've been corrupted, Jinnai.” Cell said to him, “I know you were once a great ambitious conqueror who rightly cared only about his own power and glory and success. Now look at you!”

Cell then attempted to punch Jinnai with his free hand, but Jinnai managed to catch the punch with an open palm. This left Jinnai loudly grunting in pain, as blood spurted out of his mouth. Honoka looked on with a blank look of horror spreading across her face.

“Limitless power gem or not, you can't hold me back for much longer.” said Cell confidently, “You should abandon this woman and her daughter, and fight me properly!”

“Friendship is a human fairy tale!” shouted Cell, “One that hinders, not helps, the goal of achieving perfection. And so without it, I am perfect.”

“You're... wrong, Cell.” replied Jinnai, “But... I used to think like you. I struggled to fit in... make friends... so I hid behind ambition and ego and assertiveness. I hid behind it until it truly became me. It made me evil. But then... I was totally defeated. And alone. Until the most beautiful person I know reached out her hand to me...”

Honoka started to feel goosebumps over Jinnai's words, as her eyes watered slightly.

“I had been a terrible enemy to her...” continued Jinnai, “I had plotted against her... and her friends. Still she reached out her hand to me... in forgiveness. It changed me. For... the better! And I... have been privileged... to become... her friend. In spite of that, I have repeatedly... failed her. I failed her against Gilgamesh. I failed her by misleading her, because I thought I had to... to be a good Admiral.”

A single tear rushed out of Jinnai's eye after that last line. Honoka's eyes swirled with emotion, as she became increasingly choked up with watery eyes.

Jinnai's words were not only for emotional vent. They were also to distract Cell long enough for Jinnai to slowly build up excess puer magi energy into his eyes. And those eyes were now a greatly glistening green, leaving Cell to say “Oh shit...!”

“Bokutachi wa Hitotsu no Hikariii~!!!” proclaimed Jinnai as his eyes let loose with the most powerful energy blast Jinnai had ever made.

This humongous pinkish-green blast of energy caused Cell's entire body to shatter completely, even beyond the possibility of regeneration.

“Amazing...” said a tearful Honoka in shock and awe.

Jinnai then stood upright, but with a gaping wound on his chest and back, leaving parts of purple suit soaked with blood. Honoka felt overcome with gratitude, so she carefully placed Kasumi back on the ground. Kasumi then stood upright, and placed her hands on her hips, laughing joyously in imitation of her beloved Uncle J.

Honoka raced forward, and warmly wrapped her arms around Jinnai's chest from behind.

“Thank you so much, Mr. J!” she cried to him, “Thank you, Katsuhiko. I will always be your friend.”

But Jinnai's body then went limp. He was slightly too heavy for Honoka to continue holding upright. So she carefully lowered him to the ground, upon his back. She then noticed just how much blood loss Jinnai had endured. She saw that his eyes were now closed. She feared that he was dead.

“Mr. J...” cried Honoka, as she fell to two knees and looked at his face, “KATSUHIKO!”

While Honoka feared that Katsuhiko Jinnai was now dead, Rune-playing Maximillion Pegasus now intended to kill Haven-playing Bandit Keith's American Dream.

“Say hello to my hot human-hating LRIG!” exclaimed Pegasus, “Say hello to Kanna Kamui. Kaiba-boy would be so jealous if he saw her, since she's a literal blue-eyes white dragon! Just now in her human form, of course.”

“I intend to send her back from wherever she came.” replied Bandit Keith, “We don't accept frauds without proper documentation, in America!”

Kanna grrred over that, but Pegasus calmed her down with assurances of victory. Pegasus then went first, and used his first turn to play Angelic Snipe, dealing one damage directly to Bandit Keith. Pegasus than ended his turn.

“I play The Pledge of Allegiance!” exclaimed Bandit Keith, referring to Sacred Vow, as he placed one hand over his heart, “It's an amulet that drafts three new cards into my hand once its done counting down. A Sacred Vow to all proud Americans in America!”

“How droll” replied Pegasus, as he began his second turn, “Now I play Valkyrie's Spear! It's an amulet that gives +1/+0 whenever an allied neutral follower comes into play.”

“Neutrality is for the Swiss!” protested Bandit Keith, “It has no place in America!”

Kaname Madoka felt concerned over Pegasus' coin effect not being explained. But Bandit Keith confidently played on, by playing Beastcall Aria, or as he likes to call it, Call of Duty! Bandit Keith then had Madoka attack Pegasus for one damage. Pegasus' third turn then began.

“Now you will find out what my coin effect does.” stated Pegasus in glee, “You probably love apple pies, am I right, Keith? Well I say it's time for you to eat your veggies!”

Pegasus then played the 2/2 'returns to your hand' Ultimate Carrot, and grew Kanna to 2/2. But there were two things disturbingly different about this Ultimate Carrot. For one, he looked very cartoony, with his menacing toothy grin now replaced with a warm child-like toothless smile. His carrot body also appeared more puffy and a brighter orange. Most concerning was how his attack and defense were now both 1 higher than usual.

“Toon World changes all remaining cards in our deck into Ultimate Carrot.” stated Kanna, “It also gives each Ultimate Carrot +1/+1. This makes for a food attack even scarier than Tohru's!”

“Do you see the beauty here, Keith?” asked Pegasus, “An endless army of cheap 3/3 followers that all go back into my hand when they die. 4/3 followers thanks to Valkyrie's Spear. I now command an army more vast than that of your precious America!”

Pegasus then had his 2/2 Kanna attack Keith directly for 2 damage. Pegasus' third turn ended with him having a health advantage of 19 to Keith's 17. Kaname Madoka felt deeply concerned for her friend and Selector Bandit Keith. For once, she struggled to think of a fitting Presidential quote to cheer up her friend. But as she looked into his face, she was surprised to see impeccable resolve and unusual sober seriousness.

“Not bad, Pegasus.” said Bandit Keith, as he removed his shades, “But not good enough. You should know that I have three coin effects, one for each color of our flag. Red is for the Republicans, Make America Great Again. Blue is for the Democrats, Yes We Can! As for White? White is what binds all of us as Americans. Coin Bet. Memorial Day.”

Then it happened. Images of Homura's rockets' red glare, Walpurgisnight bursting in air, flooded into Madoka's mind. And so did massive multitudes of other memories, previously stripped from her by Akuma Houmra. In complete wide-eyed open-mouth shock and awe, Magical Girl USA Kaname Madoka fell to her knees. And she began to transform. Transform into what she had once wished to be. So she grew taller, her hair grew far longer, her eyes turned golden in color, her attire changed into long-flowing pure white dress, and she grew two large wings. Those wings revealed that even now, her time as an American heroine had meant much to her, for those wings were now colored red and blue to go with her white dress.

“Four years ago, Sayaka Miki told me and some of my friends the truth about Madoka.” stated Bandit Keith, “On that day, we swore we would do whatever we could to rise her back up to where she belongs. Losing her will be sad for all Americans, but I believe that in her heart she will always be in America.”

“Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose.” said Madoka, quoting Lyndon B. Johnson.

“Good show, Keith!” exclaimed Pegasus with a dismissive sweep of one arm, “But it is ultimately meaningless. Even as a goddess, Madoka can't directly bring her power to bear on the world of men. She can merely channel it through other magic-users that she's friends with. Who can she hope to channel her might through now?”

“When it comes crashing down, and it hurts inside...” stated Madoka, as tears streamed out of her eyes, quoting the theme song of the man Bandit Keith considers the greatest American hero of all-time.

Before Madoka became the leader of Team America, it had a different leader. That leader had become one of Madoka's closest friends, and he had remained that even in his long overdue retirement. But now, he would come out of retirement one more time for the sake of his country, and his friends.

A reddish and yellowish fire formed in the middle of Bandit Keith's board. And out of that fire arose a very muscular well-tanned man, looking like he did in the late 80s, as he ripped open his shirt in vintage form.

“This is it, brother!” shouted Hulk Hogan, pointing one finger at Maximillion Pegasus, “Whatcha gonna do when the might of 24 million Puella Magi run wild over you?!”

Only a few short notes this time given length of chapter. Darthtabby's scene was wrote by him. I just edited it and shortened it some in order to fit my overall writing style. Darthtabby offered to write a mecha fight scene for me, and he did so, and I'm personally very pleased with what he wrote. Thank you, Darth! I hope you're Ok with the edits I made.

I wanted to get this off tonight because tomorrow night is the start of the NHL playoffs, involving my team The Montreal Canadiens.

Thanks to everybody who has replied! Lots of great replies.

I will explain any and all references as requested. Now, prepare for the finale!

The real-world parts of this chapter were definitely the standouts of this section, though the moment at the end of Chika v Riko was pretty heartwarming, as was the return of Madokami at the end of that duel. Back to the real world now, where emotions were running higher than Bandit Keith smoking a joint...in America

--Wonder Woman's theme is so boss it hired a separate area for Apostle and Tatsuya to fight in. How do they lose track of two conspicuous characters? I bet Jinnai's not the sensory type. It also looks like I was right about Apostle being above the weight class of the Puella Magi Trio, though he wouldn't recognize one of them at the moment

--I scanned through the previous chapter. Yup. It was indeed raining. Now I know why Superman died against Doomsday in BvS; he fought him at night! I'd also like to know what connections A-RISE has to get weapons capable of hurting Cell that the military doesn't. Newtype Alliance? Symphogear HQ? Santa's Workshop?

--Handing the reigns to Darthabby for his action scene conjured something vivid to the point that it makes it easy to wonder if he's collecting on the fact of not doing much of anything. Come to think of it, he wasn't involved in the battle against Saazbaum either...now that is peculiar. Too bad Casey can't handle the Gs, though the passenger seat is probably in better shape than the pile of mechas lying around

--That final scene deadlock between Honoka, Jinnai, and Cell detonated sentiments that I didn't think you were capable of igniting. It was a strong scene. Though, if Jinnai survives this, I hope you don't think to make that injury limit the amount of hours he can fight (who would be Aikawa though?)